SOLITARY WITNESS
by J7339
Summary: Lucas is left on his own to make his way home from a rough neighbourhood and becomes involved in a murder. A suspect for the killing is put on trial but is it really the killer that they are out to frame?
1. Default Chapter

**SOLITARY WITNESS**

"This is just great" Lucas exclaimed to himself as he trudged along the darkened

sidewalk with his hands buried deep in the pockets of his new jeans.

Ben Krieg had promised to met up with the teenager in a less than friendly side of town.

Lucas had been a little hesitant at first, especially given the reputation of neighbourhood.

Finally Ben had given a long drawn out speech about Lucas having no sense of adventure

and being unsocial and other such things.   It was true, Lucas spent more time talking and

chatting to his friends on the webnex than talking to real people.  As for spending time out

somewhere socialising, well that was almost unheard of when it came to Lucas.

Lucas had finally given in to Ben and promised to meet him at some dingy little side café

in the back street of town.   The teenager had waited over an hour for his friend to show

and finally decided that Krieg would be a no-show.

The sky overhead suddenly looked dark and ominous and a few droplets of rain began to

fall as Lucas started to walk back towards the train station.  It would be a good kilometre

walk before he would reach the subway tunnel and catch a connecting train back to

U.E.O. headquarters.

This was supposed to be his first day of shore leave after being out to sea on the SeaQuest

for 3 months.   It could only promise to get better after today Lucas told himself.

The rain started to fall even heavier and Lucas started to look around the dark alleys and 

deserted street for a place to shelter out of the rain.

Lucas suddenly saw a doorway leading to a large darkened room.  He squeezed his lanky

frame through the narrow entrance and waited until his eyesight adjusted to the dark room.

He could hear things moving about on the floor but at the moment he couldn't see anything and

his mind didn't want to think about what might be responsible for the noises.  Rats, mice or

something more sinister.

Slowly his eyes adjusted to the dark conditions and he squinted in the dim light that prevailed

to see what was in the room.  The only thing revealed was a large number of crate boxes that

were stacked on top of one another.

There was nothing to indicate that anybody currently occupied the building he was sheltering

under, but just to be on the safe side Lucas sat himself on top of one of the wooden crates with

his presence being masked behind another row of stacked boxes.  If anybody did come into the

building, he would be difficult to spot in the darkness.

The rain outside got harder and now could be heard battering the thin metal roof above and the

echo being sent downwards through the rest of the building.

Lucas didn't have his SeaQuest communicator with him so he could call back to the boat and

ask somebody to come get him.  There wasn't a public pay phone anywhere for blocks and any

that were present probably didn't work anyway.  He didn't even have his personal mobile phone

with him to call his dad back on the island and ask him to come and pick him up.

Basically he was stuck in the abandoned building until the rain eased up some and he tried the

trek to the subway again.  It might be quite a while before that was possible without getting soaked,

so he just had to stay put for the time being.

The rain had been cold and now Lucas drew his knees up towards his chest in an effort to feign off

the feeling of coldness that was beginning to penetrate through his damp and soggy clothes.  His 

blond hair fell in messy clumps over his eyes and he found himself continually trying to brush it back

out of the way.

After about an hour of non-stop rain outside and nothing much to do inside but rub his cold hands

together and try ignoring the gnawing sounds he heard from the various inhabitants, Lucas's head

began to droop and without even really realising it, he found himself drifting off into a fitful doze.

Approximately twenty minutes later, Lucas awoke suddenly to the sounds of muffled voices coming

into the building from an alternate entrance from the opposite side to Lucas.   Lucas didn't know 

whether these people would be too happy to discover a unwelcome guest so he tried to squish himself

up against the crates and out of site as possible.

The next forty minutes of Lucas's life came in a blur.  He saw many things and recognized faces that

he thought had come back to haunt him from his past.  His breath was coming in raspy gasps as he

tried to tell him that what he was seeing and hearing wasn't true.  There were a few faces and voices

that were strange and new to him.  But there was one voice in particular that chilled him to the very

core.  This was a voice and a face he had not seen in over five years.   This was somebody who he

hoped a long time ago that he would never have the misfortune of coming into contact with again.

When he had gone aboard the SeaQuest he thought all the previous encounters were just bad memories

that would go away after time.

About an hour and a half later…………………

Lucas just sat on the cold concrete floor of an abandoned old factory. The man he'd come to know 

as John Taylor was now dead. His blood covered everything including the floor and Lucas. The man's

life had just ebbed away slowly as the liquid ran out onto the floor.

Lucas just looked down at the vacant and unstaring eyes looking back at him. He barely knew this man.

This was somebody who he had a brief conversation with over the last five or ten minutes, and now, the 

man was lying dead in his lap. 

Lucas's thoughts were suddenly looked up at the sound of the huge rusty roller door to the factory opening up. 

He shielded his eyes from the bright light of the torches from the police as they were pointed in his direction. 

The only thing the police could see was a very pale and shocked looking teenager covered in blood with a 

dead man laying at his feet. Even the boy's hands that he held up to shield his face were stained red.

"I didn't do it" Lucas managed to say in a barely audible whisper. 

"Come with us son" came a low baritone voice of one of the policemen standing in front of him.

"I didn't do it" Lucas repeated as he felt two sets of hands pull him to his unsteady feet and half-walk, 

half-carry him towards a waiting squad car.

The only words that kept going around in the boy's mind were the last ones that John Taylor had uttered

before his death: 

"Don't turn your back on him Lucas.   He'll get you too just like he got me. Watch yourself,

your not safe from him anymore."

ANOTHER BEGINNING I JUST HAD TO GET OUT OF MY HEAD FOR THE TIME BEING –

LOTS MORE TO COME.

IT ISN'T LAWRENCE EITHER – HE IS IN THIS ONE BUT ONLY HAS A MINOR ROLE.

IT ISN'T PAUL SANDERSON COME BACK FROM THE DEAD EITHER.

THIS IS A WHOLE NEW PLAYER TO THE GAME……………… ENJOY !!!!!!!!!!


	2. CHAPTER 2

**SOLITARY WITNESS**

   It was about 12 midnight when the phone rang on Bridger's island.   Bridger and Kristen Westphalen were

  asleep when the phone rang.   Bridger grumbled and rolled over and fumbled around in the dark trying to

  find the phone in the dark.    His hand reached the beside lamp and he flicked the switch and opened one

  eye as the table was covered in a dull hue from the lamp. 

  "Hello" he answered in a thick voice.   He didn't know who was calling at this hour of the night.  He didn't

  really care either at the moment.

   That sentence changed when the voice on the other end of the phone introduced himself as Inspector

   Daniel Rowlands of the City Police Department.   Bridger suddenly felt all of his fear settle in the pit of

   his stomach about what the caller on the other end of the phone had to say.

   Bridger knew that Lucas had intended to spend a night out with Ben Krieg and then stay overnight at the

   Krieg's residence until returning to the island the next morning.    Bridger sat up straight in the bed and

   cleared the fog from his brain before letting the voice on the phone continue.   He wasn't sure he was 

   ready for whatever the man had to say but he wanted to hear it when he was fully alert.

    "Captain Nathan Bridger of the SeaQuest is it?" Rowlands asked.

    "Yes this is he" Bridger answered whilst trying to arouse Kristen on the other side of the bed.  Kristen could

    sense the worry coming from Nathan and she too sat in bed waiting to hear what the telephone call was 

    about.

    "Are you the legal guardian of one Lucas Wolenczak?" the voice asked.   This question immediately sent all

    sorts of alarm bells off in Bridger's head.  What had happened?  Had Lucas been in some sort of accident?

   "Where is he and is he alright?" Bridger asked as she heard Kristen gasp out loud behind him as she realised

   just who the telephone call was about.  She heard the words Lucas and "was he alright" in the same sentence

  and she now felt her own fears multiply with concern over the teenager.

  "At the moment Sir he is down at the City police station waiting in one of our cells" Rowlands continued to tell

  them.   "Don't worry he's not in any sort of trouble if that's what your asking.  But he's a little more than shaken

  up.   I don't think it's really appropriate to be discussing what has happened over the telephone.  Shall I wait for

  you to arrive?" he asked.

  "I'll be there in less than an hour" Bridger said.

  "Oh and Captain Bridger, do you have the contact name of the boy's physician?" Rowlands asked.  

  "Why is the boy injured?" Bridger asked nervously, wishing that he was hearing something else.  They were asking

   for the boy's doctor.  That meant something bad had happened.   Where was Ben?  Why wasn't Ben with him?

  "I'm bringing her with me" Bridger answered and hung up hurriedly, not wanting to waste any more time on small talk.

   "They asked for Lucas's doctor too" Bridger said to Kristen realising she had already heard most of the conversation.

  "Ill be ready before you" she answered as they both rushed to dress and leave for the main land and Lucas.

   *****************************************************************************************************************************

    Around forty-five minutes later, Bridger and Kristen pulled up in a cab outside the police headquarters and got out.

    They both rushed to the door wanting to know what had happened to Lucas.    They approached a large officer

    man at the front reception desk and asked to talk to Inspector Daniel Rowlands.  The man informed him that he

   would get the Inspector for them.

   What seemed like a few minutes wait for Bridger and Kristen actually felt like forever.  Bridger almost tore a hole

   in the pockets of his jeans as he jammed them in so tightly out of nervousness.

   "Captain Bridger" Rowlands said as he walked forward and shook the Captain's outstretched hand.  

   "This is Doctor Kristen Westphalen" Bridger said as he raced through the introductions "Now where is Lucas?"

   Rowlands put his hand up gesturing for the anxious pair to slow down "I know you are anxious to see him.

   He probably is just as anxious to see you, but I think there are a few things we need to discuss before I take

  you to see him."

   "What do you mean a few things to discuss?" Bridger said trying to quell his anger and the delays in seeing his

   son.

   "Well I haven't told you yet why Lucas is here" Rowlands said "And what condition we found him in a few hours

    ago" he continued.   "Please if you would both just allow me a few minutes, I promise then I will reunite you 

   with Lucas."     

   Reluctantly Bridger and Kristen followed the Inspector into a formal interview room behind the front counter.  

   Both of them were liking this situation less and less as time dragged on.   Both of them just wanted to see

   Lucas and make sure he was alright.  What did the Inspector mean by "the condition we found him in"?

   "Can I offer either of you a cup of coffee or tea?" Rowlands asked.

   "Inspector, I hate to be rude, but I think we just want to know what happened to Lucas" Bridger said still trying

  to be polite while his insides were screaming to find Lucas.

   "I understand how you feel Captain, but believe me once you have heard what I have got to say I think you will

   regret having that cup of coffee or something more stronger." the Inspector replied.

   "Let me start out by saying that no physical harm has come to Lucas" Rowlands said and saw both of the people

   in front of him physically relax at that admittance.  "On the other hand, it's his mental and emotional state that

   concerns me the most at the moment."

   Rowlands saw that Kristen was about to ask what happened but he motioned to her to let him complete the

   story in his own words.

   "Your son, or should I say Lucas saw a murder tonight" Rowlands blurted out.  He left it unfinished because he knew

   that Bridger and Kristen would need to comprehend what he just said first before he continued any further.

   "A MURDER" Bridger cried out in alarm and then put his hands to his head as he tried to contemplate how a sensitive

  and gentle person of Lucas's personality would react to seeing something such as another person killed.

   "That's not all I'm afraid" Rowlands said interrupting the voice in Bridger's head.   "Not only did he see the murder, which

  was a vicious cold-blooded killing, but the victim, a Mr John Taylor must have been alive for sometime after he was fatally

  wounded.   It seems that the man lived for some period of time after the killers left and actually spoke in depth with Lucas.

  Then it would appear that Mr Taylor died while laying in the boy's lap." he paused during his story again.

   "Oh my God, poor Lucas" Kristen said as she tried to contain the tears she held inside for Lucas.

   "I know there's a lot more to this story than we will be able to figure out tonight, and I know you are desperate to see

  you son, but I thought it necessary to inform you about what Lucas saw before we take you to see him.   You can

  take him home tonight of course, but there will need to be a lot of time spent with investigators over the next couple

  of months whilst we figure out who the killers were." Rowlands explained.

  "Do you know who the killer's are" Bridger asked.

   "No, but we are hoping that once Lucas is able to talk to police that he will be able to give us a comprehensive description

   of who the killer was." Rowlands said.   "I'll take you to see him now.  Doctor, I thought it necessary to call for you because

  I think the boy might need some medical attention."  Kristen nodded and she and Bridger both got up and followed the

  Inspector through a set of doors through to the cell area of the police station.

   "Why is Lucas is a prisoner cell Inspector?" Bridger asked as they approached a cell door.  "I thought you said he wasn't

   in any trouble."

   "He's not Captain, but given the emotional state that Lucas was in when we found him, we were worried that Lucas might

    be a danger to himself.  He's actually been placed in a secure cell that it used for prisoners who show signs of wanting

   to harm themselves.    This revelation was not one that Bridger was hoping to hear.    

   Inspector Rowlands opened the door to the cell and allowed Kristen and Bridger  to go in first.

   The sight that greeted Bridger when he and Kristen first walked into the cell was almost more than he could take.   Bridger

   closed his eyes for a second hoping that the image before him wasn't real and that it would simply go away.

   Lucas was over in the far left hand corner of the room.   He was sitting on the padded floor with his knees drawn up to

   his chest and his head bowed down so he wasn't looking at those coming to the room.     He didn't even bother to look

  up as he heard someone enter the room.

   Bridger walked over to Lucas and quietly knelt down to the teenager and tried to put a comforting arm around the boy's

  hunched shoulders.  It was at the feeling of this touch that Bridger heard the loudest piercing scream he had ever heard

  from Lucas.

  Bridger was almost taken aback as Lucas started to scream hysterically as he Dad tried to console him.   He didn't

  think that his simple touch would provoke such a violent reaction from the emotionally strained boy.

  It was only after a few minutes of screaming and Bridger pulling his face up so he could see who was talking to him

  that the boy stopped screaming and did the exact opposite, crumbling into Bridger's embrace and crying his heart

  out.   Bridger could feel the tremors running through the boy as he cried long and hard into his dad's shoulder.

  "How long has he been like this?" Kristen asked as she fought hard to control her emotions over Lucas's obvious

  distress.

  "He had basically been like this since we found him with Taylor in the factory." Rowlands reported sadly.

  It was now for the first time that Bridger noted that the front of Lucas's shirt and jeans was covered in blood stains.

 Blood stains obviously gained from cradling the dying man in his lap.   The sight of such a thing wouldn't make it

 any easier for the boy to come to terms with what he had witnessed.

  "Couldn't you have at least given him some clean clothes or something"  Bridger said with cynicism etched in his

 voice.  "How could you leave him clothes covered in blood?"

  "We already tried to give him some clean clothes Mr Bridger, but every time somebody went near him we got the

  same reaction as you just now.   He just screamed and screamed to be left alone.   Told us that he didn't want

  anybody to touch him.   That's when we decided to put him in his cell for his own safety and call you." Rowlands

  replied.

  "I didn't do it Dad.  Tell them that I didn't do it" Lucas said as he looked at Bridger with his tear-stained face.

  Kristen could tell that the teenager was at the end of his emotional rope.  He needed to calm down now or he was

  in danger of having a full panic attack.    She had brought her medical bag with her as a precaution when the telephone

  call came through to the island.

  She now fished around it until she found the vial of sedative she was looking for and a fresh syringe.  She knew that

  the only way Lucas was going to calm down at the moment while in such an emotional state was by artificial methods.

 Lucas had seen Kristen hold the syringe towards him and he now tried to back further away into the corner to get away.

  He couldn't go anywhere and eventually gave up on escaping from his fate and turned his face away into Bridger's

  shoulder once more while the sedative was administered.   He barely felt the sting of the needle as it penetrated his

  upper left arm.   Within a few minutes, Bridger could feel Lucas's body relax in his embrace signalling that the boy had

  succumbed to the medicine's effects.   He moved Lucas so Kristen could take a closer look at the now sleeping boy.

   Kristen checked the teenager over as best she could without her equipment at hand.    She could see that the boy's

   eyes were very red and puffy from crying.    The boy felt slightly cold to the touch signalling he might be suffering from

   some kind of shock   Kristen asked for a blanket and then proceeds to drape the one handed to her over Lucas as he

  slept.

   "Let's take him back home so he can rest properly" Kristen said.    

   "I'm sorry but for now I can't assign any witness protection teams to Lucas until some become available" Rowlands

   said as he saw Bridger and Kristen get the sleeping teenager ready to go home.

   "What does he need witness protection for?" Bridger asked with uneasiness as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck

  stand on end.  

   "Mr Bridger, Lucas was the sole witness in this case and as far as we are able to determine this murder was more than

   just a opportune killing.  Mr Taylor was connected with some of the Mr Big's of the mob underworld.  We will need Lucas

   to testify once we have located the right suspect and that might put Lucas at risk from some very unscrupulous characters."

  Rowlands said.  "I will check in on Lucas tomorrow to see if he is up to talking to police yet." he added.

   "Lucas will be ready to talk to police when I say so Inspector, and only when he says he is ready to me" Kristen warned

   with her doctor's voice.   "Under no circumstances is he going to talk to anybody if he doesn't want to.  And as for

    testifying in court, well we'll just see how things work out along those lines."

    "Ms Westphalen, may I remind you that although Lucas might be under your supervision, if he is a witness in this

    case then I will put every available resource at my disposal to see that he testifies to what he has seen.  I don't want

    to be  the ogre in this case but the truth remains that Lucas is at risk if he testifies or not.   Take Lucas home and

    we can talk more about this tomorrow." Rowlands said as he walked out of the cell and prepared to leave the case 

    rest for tonight.

     HOPE YOU ARE ALL ENJOYING THIS ONE !!!!!!!!! -  MORE TO COME

ANOTHER BEGINNING I JUST HAD TO GET OUT OF MY HEAD FOR THE TIME BEING –

LOTS MORE TO COME.

IT ISN'T LAWRENCE EITHER – HE IS IN THIS ONE BUT ONLY HAS A MINOR ROLE.

IT ISN'T PAUL SANDERSON COME BACK FROM THE DEAD EITHER.

THIS IS A WHOLE NEW PLAYER TO THE GAME……………… ENJOY !!!!!!!!!!


	3. CHAPTER 3

**SOLITARY WITNESS**

I    Inspector Rowlands helped Bridger and Kristen get a deeply asleep Lucas into the back seat of a taxi cab.   They

    settled the teenager along the length of the seat and then Bridger got in himself and sat on the right hand side of

    of the car so that the boy's blond head rested in his lap.   They got a few inquisitive and questioning looks from the

    cab driver, but his unasked questions fell on deaf ears.  The two passengers only had their thoughts on one person

    at the moment.

  Kristen sat in the front of the cab on the way back home.  Although she was deeply concerned about Lucas, she 

  could also see that what had happened to Lucas had a profound effect on Nathan.  The man sat in the back seat whilst 

  continuing to stroke the boy's blond hair.  He was lost in his own thoughts about what he had been told about

  what Lucas had seen.  He was having a difficult time accepting that this might be an event that could change

  Lucas forever.

  Even though the sedative had worked, Lucas mumbled in his sleep as they drove back to the jetty.  Thankfully,

  at this time of night they were the only passengers on the ferry back to the island.   There was nobody to stop

  and wonder what was wrong with the family that sat in one corner of the boat.   

  Kristen and Nathan couldn't really  work out what Lucas was saying, most of it was incoherent and barely audible.  

  A couple of times Lucas's sleep limp hand had shot out from nowhere and held onto the front of Nathan's shirt with 

  a vice-like grip.   The hand would twist and turn, almost tearing the fabric of the shirt before going limp again as the 

  boy's dream subsided and he drifted into a more peaceful sleep.

  When they finally arrived home, Nathan and Kristen struggled together to carry Lucas into the house and up the stairs

  to his bedroom.   Over the last couple of months it was becoming increasingly obvious about the boy's weight gain.

  Before this time the boy had been painfully thin and they often worried even more about his eating habits.   His life was

  just beginning to come back on track after all that had happened with his father Lawrence and Paul Sanderson.

  They hated to even contemplate what sort of devastating effect something such as a murder would have on his mental

  wellbeing.

  The boy's skin was now a little warmer to the touch but Kristen warned that there was still the real risk of the boy going

  into shock over the next 24 hours.  They would still have to keep a very close eye on him during that time to make sure

  he remained physically okay.   Mentally, well that was something totally different at the moment and Kristen didn't really

  have a diagnosis or remedy that might help the teenager overcome what he had witnessed.

  Nathan now fussed over him as Lucas lay on the bed in a drug induced sleep.   He removed his shoes and noticed that

  they too had some blood stains on them.   He put them well aside for the time being out of Lucas's direct line of sight.

   He would buy the kid a new pair just to be on the safe side and reminded himself to get rid of the shoes as soon as 

  possible. 

   Bridger then tucked Lucas's legs and lower body underneath a clean sheet on the bed and then added a quilt on top

   for warmth.   He felt totally useless at the moment and any physical contact with Lucas made him think that he would

  at least be there for the kid.   He had been there, many times before and been the support that Lucas so desperately

  sought.   This time though, he didn't know if his mere presence or comforting arm would be enough.  

  "I want somebody to stay with him at least tonight" Kristen now said.  "But I also think we might need to call in some

  extra reinforcements" she added knowing that Bridger understood the meaning of her words.  

  "I'll contact the boat and call on Ben and Tim to come and help" Bridger said in a whisper so as not to disturb the 

  sleeping young man.   "I know the whole boat would want to help, but really at this stage I think that's the last thing

  Lucas needs.   If the others want to help then they can be the protection that Rowlands thinks Lucas might need until

  the trial.  I'm sure that they will understand that Lucas's best interests and safety are what we need to focus on at the

  moment." 

  "Do you think he will need any more sedatives or medication?" Bridger asked as he glanced back at the sleeping boy.

  He wasn't against such methods, but if the boy was going to overcome this traumatic event, then he would need to be

  alert and awake for the best part of it.   Hopefully talking to the police and telling them exactly what he saw would help

  the teenager come to terms with what he saw.   

  "I can't say yes or no at the moment" Kristen said in all honesty.  "I think we will just have to play it by ear and be ready

 for anything.   All people react differently to something so horrible as this so we will just have to be patient and let Lucas

  tell us how he is feeling."

 "I can't help but think that he's not going to be very talkative at all Kristen.  You know how he gets when people start 

asking a lot of questions.  He is likely to clam up and keep everything bottled up inside." Bridger said.

 "You go and make your call to the boat" Kristen said gently "I'll go make a pot of coffee and keep an eye on him for

 the next few hours.  You can get some more sleep and come and relieve me shortly."   Bridger nodded.  He was about

 to protest about taking the first watch, but he reminded himself that he did need to contact the boat and tell the crew

to get ready.    He needed to talk to Ben Krieg and that was probably going to be the hardest thing next to talking to

Lucas.  Without knowing why Lucas was on his own this night, Bridger knew in his heart that Ben would never betray

his friend's trust and leave him alone in such a neighbourhood unless something beyond his control had happened.

Bridger went to make the calls.

Commander Jonathan Ford and the others could scarcely believe what Bridger was telling them as the senior members

of the crew sat in the Ward Room as Bridger spoke about what Lucas had been through over the last few hours.

Ben Krieg was yet to arrive at the Bridger's house.  Nathan thought it best that he not tell Ben what had happened

to Lucas over the phone.  Ben was already panic stricken about the missing teenager when Bridger called so he had

been quick to tell the worried Lieutenant that Lucas had been located.  He just left out the part about Lucas seeing

a murder and being locked in the padded cell of the city Watch house.   Bridger knew that once Ben found out what

had happened to his friend, there might be another person in need of sedation from Kristen.

Ben had hung up the phone and promised to be there in half and hour, or less if the laws of physics permitted it.

Ben may not have known about the murder part, but the tone in Bridger's voice told him that something was wrong.

Commander Ford had given similar promises to Bridger about Tim O'Neill being sent in the first available shuttle and

setting up a team of security officers that would remain on stand-by and wait for Bridger's call to go into action.  Most

of them had been horrified at idea that Lucas might need protection from the city's mob underworld.  They all promised

that nobody would get close enough to the boy to harm him or intimidate him in anyway before the trial.

It was less than ten minutes after Bridger finished speaking on the Video-link that a sharp rap at the front door told him

that Ben Krieg had arrived.   Bridger opened the door and came face to face with an out of breath Lieutenant with duffle

bag in hand.  

"What's the bag for?" Bridger asked in surprise.

"Something in your voice told me that I might be here longer than one night" Ben said in a serious tone.  This was a tone

of voice rarely heard in Lieutenant Krieg.   Usually his voice was in laughter or a smirk or a tone that suggested he was

hiding one of his latest pranks on the rest of the crew.    Bridger knew that he would have to give Ben a total and honest

answer.  He was Lucas's best friend and deserved that much.

"You'd better come in" Bridger said as he invited Ben in.   "Sit down at the table and I will bring you a cup of extra-strong

coffee" he added trying to prepare the man for what he was about to hear.   He doubted that the coffee would help, particularly

if Ben's reaction was anything like his own to Rowland's description.

Ben was now sitting at the table, cup of coffee in hand.   Bridger at opposite him and tried best not to avoid the Lieutenant's

stern gaze.   It was only now looking at Bridger's evasiveness and the worry etched on the Captain's face that Ben started

to be afraid of what had happened to Lucas.

"Why don't you start Lieutenant" Bridger offered trying to at least ease into the conversation.  "Tell me why Lucas was

on his own when he was supposed to be staying the night with you."  

"It was like this Captain, I didn't want to leave the kid on his own.   I told him that I would meet him at this café and we

would go to another place after that together.  Lucas told me that he wanted to see somebody on his own, I still don't

know who that was.   I said okay and he told me that he would meet me at the café instead.  We agreed to meet at

4.00pm at the _IN VOGUE café to have a coke and fries and then head further into the city." Ben said now stopping_

briefly and sipping at his coffee to hide his guilt.

"Lucas left my place about 3.30pm to this somebody.    After he left I had a call from my mother to say that my dad

had a heart attack last night and that she needed me at the hospital" Ben said.  

Bridger's heart really went out to Ben as he now realized that the Lieutenant might have more than one person to

worry about.  "Is that where you need to be right now Ben" he asked gently.  "Do you need to be with your own family?"

"Oh no Captain, turns out it was only a minor scare.  He was going to be allowed back home this morning.  My mom

just got real worried that's all.  But I hope you understand that it was because of my dad's condition that I left Lucas

alone like that.  I never would have done it for any other reason.   I even tried sending a message to the café ahead of

me to let the kid know that I would be late.   But by the time I managed to call, the girl told me that she had seen

Lucas leave about half an hour ago.   I didn't know where he would go.   Assumed that maybe he would just come back

here and be mad at me for the next week." he explained.   "Please tell me what happened."

"Okay, but there's no easy way to tell you this.  Kristen and I haven't really even come to accept what we heard ourselves

yet.  That's where Kristen is now.  We had to give Lucas a sedative to calm him down and he's now sleeping upstairs."

Bridger said.

Bridger looked at Ben and just like Rowlands said the words he had been told "Lucas saw a murder last night".

Bridger could see Ben's eyes become as big as saucers and then the man's face seemed to crumple at the thought

of what danger and pain he had left he friend in.  Ben put his head in his hands just as Bridger had done so Bridger

continued his story while Ben wrestled with his guilt.

"We haven't really been told much yet.   Apparently a man was shot in an abandoned factory not too far from the café

where the two of you were supposed to meet.  Lucas went into the factory to get out of a shower of rain.   The man

was still alive when the killers left the building.    This man spoke to Lucas for a time and then died in the boy's arms."

Bridger said.

"When Kristen and I arrived at the police station, Lucas was still wearing the blood stained clothes from the factory." 

he said with still a touch of anger in his voice.  "He was placed in a secure cell because they were afraid he would

hurt himself.   He was scrunched up into the corner of the cell and when I tried to comfort him he just screamed.

Screamed and screamed like you have never heard him before." Bridger said as tears started to well up in his own

eyes at the harrowing cries he had heard coming from the traumatized boy.

"After all he has already been through Captain" Ben said as he reminded himself of what Lucas had already experienced

at the hands of Paul Sanderson and his father.   "I will never forgive myself Captain" Ben said in self-reproach. 

"It wasn't you fault Ben" Bridger said as he grasped Ben's hand from the opposite side of the table and give them a quick

squeeze.  "You couldn't possibly have known.  None of us could have foreseen what was going to happen."

Ben wasn't really believing the speech Bridger was giving.  "Well what do we do now?" he asked.  At least he could

feel he was doing something to help his friend.   He fully expected that Lucas would never talk to him again.   

"We don't really know yet Ben.   Lucas hasn't spoken to anybody about this yet.  It is still early days.  We are just

going to have to be there for him and be his support if he needs it.   The police have already said that he is their sole

witness in the case.  Rowlands is hoping that Lucas can give them enough of a description to catch the killers.

They want him to testify in court if it comes to that.  That's why I had Commander Ford arrange for a special security

force to protect Lucas.   They think that due to some of the connects the victim had, that some of the killers might

come after Lucas if they find out who he is."  Bridger said.

"Can I see him?" Ben asked as he looked up from his coffee cup.   

Bridger could see the pain written all over his face.   "I think that's a good idea.  He's still asleep and probably will

be until morning, but Kristen could probably do with a break or so company at least." he said getting up from the

chair and motioning for Krieg to follow him upstairs.

Kristen saw Ben walk in and immediately knew that he had been informed about what happened.  She got up and

greeted him with a handshake and a brief embrace.   She knew that Ben would be hurting over his friend.   She knew

Ben wasn't at fault about leaving Lucas alone, but she would wait until later to talk to Nathan about what the Lieutenant's

reason was.

Ben's gaze immediately drifted towards the bed and the sleeping teenager laying in it.   Lucas was still asleep but

the emotional scars already seemed to be evident on his pale face.    He walked over and sat down on the chair that

Kristen had occupied and started to talk to the sleeping boy.   He tried to tell Lucas about how sorry he was about

leaving him alone.   Ben promised that he would be there no matter what if he needed him.  He promised a million

other things that seemed so irrelevant now.    Lucas stirred slightly in the bed and moved about as Ben was talking

to him but never really awoke.   He mumbled a few more incoherent words that seemed to be talking to another

person altogether and then he settled deeper into the pillows and sleep claimed him again.

|'d like to stay with him for a while if that's okay with you" Ben said as he looked back up at Kristen and Bridger

standing at the end of the bed.

Bridger had all the protests in the world about why Ben shouldn't be there.  Most of them settled around the idea that

Bridger himself needed to be beside Lucas in case he needed someone.   But looking at Ben now, Nathan didn't

have the heart to deny the Lieutenant's request.  He could see that Ben needed to be with Lucas just as much at the

moment.   He would put aside his personal feelings for the time being and be there for two people he cared the world

about.   The feelings towards Ben were different of course to Lucas.  Bridger didn't know if the difference came from the

fact that Ben had spent time with Bridger's son Robert that Nathan didn't get the time to spend.  And there were many

times whilst back on the boat that he found himself chastising Ben for his lack of attention at his job.   The guy could

drive you absolutely bonkers at times with his practical jokes.  But at the end of the day there was still that hidden

connection that made him reach out and be there for Ben even if it was only from a distance.

Kristen could also see Ben's need to spend time with Lucas tonight.   She would have to do the medical monitoring,

but she allowed Ben to take her chair.   She did one more brief check of the teenager's breathing and temperature,

making sure that shock still hadn't set in.   She warned Ben about the signs to look for and told him that she and

Bridger would be only down the hall if he needed them.   

Bridger checked on Lucas as well.  Adjusting the covers for the hundredth time and gently caressing the sleeping

boy's cheek just to feel that closeness that  they both seemed to crave.    He then bid Ben good night and forced

himself to walk out of Lucas's bedroom with Kristen and go to their own bedroom for some rest.   

*************************************************************************************************************************************

Kristen had check on Lucas twice more during the five hours before dawn, and smiled on the last occasion when she

found Ben sound asleep in the chair beside the teenager's bed.  She didn't want to disturb Ben's slumber and gently

draped a blanket around the man's shoulders as he slumped in the chair.   Lucas seemed to be okay physically so

far.   His skin temperature was normal if not warm due to the quilt.   He seemed to be still sleeping thanks to the 

sedative.   He barely made a sound as she gently checked his breathing and pulse.   His pulse was still a little racy

but she supposed that was to be expected.   No doubt his pulse would get even quicker over the next few days as

he was again made to relive what happened when the police investigators came calling.

It was now 7.00am the next morning.  The house was silent as most of the occupants inside slept.   It was only about

now that Lucas started stirring from his deep slumber.

He failed to alert Ben to his waking up due to him remaining quiet as he went through the motions of coming awake.

He at first had no recollection of what had happened the night before.   He opened his eyes at first and then rubbed

them to try and get the gritty feeling out of them.   His mouth felt particularly dry and he tried swallowing a couple of

times to moisten his throat.     He was still laying down now but turned his head to the side trying to figure

out just where and when he was.

He could see that he was in his bed back at his dad's island.    When he turned his head to the right he saw his 

friend Ben Krieg sitting in a chair asleep.  It puzzled him for a minute.  He had to think about why Ben would be sitting

beside him.   Then the horrors of the night before came back at full force.   He had to bite down on his tongue to stop

the scream that was caught in his throat from escaping and alerting Ben to the fact that he was awake.

He guessed that his Dad and Kristen had told Ben what happened.  He wasn't angry at any of them for this knowledge,

but with all the things he had already put his family and friends through, he thought it was about time he battled some

of these demons on his own.    There was going to come a time in his life that he couldn't expect his Dad or Ben or

anyone else for that matter to be there.  He might as well start now he told himself.

He needed to sit down and think this whole thing through.   The images were still very real in his mind and the whispers

in his head were getting louder by the minute.  He needed to escape the almost claustrophobic feeling of his bedroom

and escape outside to sit down and gather his thoughts together.

Lucas silently started to get up from the bed.   At one stage a squeaky spring started to make a noise and he had frozen

in his position for a few seconds while the noise settled and cursed under his breath at the bed.   He left his feet bare

and didn't bother to change from the clothes he had slept in.

He opened the door and peeked outside to make sure that his Dad and Kristen were still asleep in their rooms.   The hallway

seemed to be all clear, so he quietly made his way down the stairs and out onto the patio out the front of the house.

The morning was still just dawning and the breeze was quite refreshing as it touched his bare skin and flapped his shirt

around his waist.   He walked down the step and almost tripped because of a loose nail in the decking.  He made a mental

note the tell his Dad about it and get it fixed before someone other than himself fell and hurt themselves.    He continued

his walk down the pier to the water's edge and sat leaning against one of the pylons.    He could see the calm and 

peaceful water lapping below as small waves formed from the ripples on the surface and then disappeared again a few

metres away only to reform again.

It was this continual repetition and the calmness of the morning that made his thoughts start to drift back to the night

before.  He could still hear the words John Taylor had said to him before he died.    

      _Don't let yourself become a victim of society like I did Lucas.    You've still got a long life in front of you.  _

_      Don't waste it on wondering what might have been.    Make you own dreams come true and the hell with_

_      what others might say about them.    Life's too short Lucas and you just don't know when you will have_

_      to cash in your chips.   _

_      That Bruce Jackson is somebody to watch out for Lucas.   Don't let him bully you like he did me.   In the_

_      end, he was running my life not me.  Promised me all sorts of things over the years he did.  They only_

_      part that came true was the promise to kill me if I turned my back on him.    Don't make the same mistake_

_      Lucas.   Get as far away from him as you can.   _

_      Lucas felt his eyes misting up again as the words echoed over and over in his head.   Though John Taylor didn't_

need to remind him about Jackson's dark past.   John Taylor didn't know it at the time but Lucas and Bruce Jackson

had met a long time before last night.    There had already been threats years ago about what could happen to people

who tried to cross Jackson or his hired hands.  Lucas could still vividly see all of their faces and remember about the

nights he spent hiding in the secret doorway in his father' study.    He had overheard many things during those times.

Not only about Jackson and his operations or his team of hired hit men, but of course about his own father and the

dealings Lawrence Wolenczak had with Jackson.   His father had tried to make out that he was an equal partner in

the crooked schemes by acting touch when Jackson and his men left.  Wolenczak would strut around and talk behind

Jackson's back as Lucas sat in his father's office chair as was forced to listen to his parade of snide remarks and

tough words.   

      However when it came down to talking face to face with Jackson, Lucas had to smile and laugh at how he had

seen his overconfident father become a sniffling coward just like everybody else.   Jackson made the deals.  Told

his father were to drop things off and when to pick up.   No, Lawrence Wolenczak played the game of grovelling 

slave during those times just like the others.      

      Then there had been the night where Jackson's most trusted man Carl Lopez had found Lucas listening in on

the conversations with his father and Jackson.    Lopez had hauled the struggling boy out of his hiding place and

threatened to slit the boy's throat from ear to ear if he breathed a word of what he saw or heard to anybody.    The

frightened boy of 13 just nodded his head as Lopez stood over him and made the deadly threats.  Lucas believed

every word of it back then.   He believed every word of it now.   Now that he knew Jackson was around again, Lucas

was just as afraid as that night.  He knew that he would have to remain silent on who he saw at the murder scene

or there would be yet another murder.   This murder would be his own.

      Lucas was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of splashing water below.  He looked down and smiled a genuine

smile as he saw his ever faithful friend Darwin in the water.    The animal was playing about and splashing, trying to gain

the distant boy's attention.     Darwin desperately wanted the boy to jump in and have a swim with him.

      "Not today fella" Lucas said quietly as he looked away from his friend and was lost in his thoughts again.

      While Lucas sat on the pier lost in his thoughts about Jackson and John Taylor,  the three other people inside the

house were beginning to stir from their uneasy sleep.

      Ben was the first to wake due to his uncomfortable position in the chair.  He tried to sit up and stretch his aching

back and massage some of the stiffness from his legs.     He opened his eyes slowly, he too forgetting momentarily

where he was and why he was sleeping in a chair.    His eyes soon fell on the vacant bed in front of him and it took

only a few seconds more for it to register who in fact was supposed to be in the bed.

      "CAPTAIN, KRISTEN" Ben yelled as he jumped out the chair, almost falling onto the floor from his hurried attempts.

      Kristen and Bridger were stumbling their way to the door at hearing Ben's shouts.  They both thought that Lucas

must have woken up and was having a nightmare or something about the murder.    They both made in into the hallway

to see Ben yelling something they couldn't quite work out.

      "Slow down and tell us what's wrong" Bridger said as he felt a headache coming on as a result of the lack of sleep

and the yelling that Ben was doing.

      Ben didn't yell this time, just simply pointed towards Lucas's bed for them to look at.   Kristen and Bridger walked

to Lucas's door and looked in to see what the Lieutenant was so worked up about.

      "He's gone" Bridger said in alarm as he glanced at the now empty bed.  

      "I know that Captain, but where's he gone.  He shouldn't be wandering around on his own, especially after what

you said happened.  We've gotta go and find him.  NOW !!!"  Ben said almost shouting again.

      "Calm down everybody" Kristen said trying to make sense out of it all.  Her own fears had begun to multiply within

her, but they all needed to relax a little and try and think this out rationally.

      "Maybe he's just gone downstairs for breakfast" she said quietly and was almost stampeded by Ben and Bridger

rushing past her to see if her theory about Lucas was right.  She followed after them down the stairs into the living

room.

      From where they all stood, all three of them could not see any sign of Lucas in the living room on the couch or

in the kitchen at the table for breakfast.      Their attention was quickly drawn to the open front door and this only

made their fears increase dramatically.

      They were all just about to race out the front door when their movement was interrupted by the sound of the

telephone ringing.  They all stopped and looked at one another trying to guess what the call could mean.   Could

it be Lucas ringing from somewhere saying that he needed them to come and get him.      Ben stopped all the

hypotheticals and picked up the phone.

      "Hello" Ben said nervously as he greeted the unknown caller.  "Bridger residence" he added when he realised

that he had just answered the phone in somebody else's house.  For all they knew it could be somebody from the

U.E.O. calling Nathan.

      "This is Inspector  Daniel Rowlands from the City Police Department.   I hate to both you people so early this

morning, but I really need to speak to Lucas if he is awake" the police officer replied.

      "Um, just a minute Inspector" Ben answered as he got the recognition from Bridger and Kristen as to who 

the mystery caller was.   "Want's to talk to Lucas" Ben said to the other two as he placed his hand over the mouth

piece to muffle the conversation.

      "Get his number and tell him that Lucas is still asleep and will call him back" Bridger said trying to think of a quick

answer as to why the teenager wasn't able to take the call.

      "Um, Inspector this is Ben Krieg, a friend of Captain Bridger and Lucas.  Lucas is still asleep at the moment, so

can I get a number from you and have him call you as soon as he wakes up?" Ben said as he crossed the two fingers

on his left hand in anticipation that the explanation would be sufficient.

      "Well yes, I guess that's okay I suppose.  I would like to talk to him as soon as possible though" Rowlands said.

"The number is 555 1278.   I will be here for most of the morning.  Please tell him that it is urgent that I talk to him."

he added.

      "You sure you don't want to leave a more detailed message" Ben now asked hoping that the police officer would

reveal just what he wanted to talk to Lucas about.

      "No"  came the curt reply from Rowlands.  "I just need to talk to him urgently.  I will explain it to him when he 

calls." and then promptly hung up the telephone.

      Ben Krieg was left holding a beeping phone as he looked back at Bridger and Westphalen.  "He wouldn't say what

he wanted.  Said he wants to talk to Lucas urgently".

      "Well we need to find Lucas before we can give him the message" Bridger reminded them.  He was a little unhappy

with Rowlands nagging of Lucas so soon after returning from the police station last night.  He realised that the man was

only probably trying to do his job.   But Lucas was only his son and he thought the man might be a little more understanding

of the boy's emotional state.

      Ben had now walked outside onto the patio to see if he could see Lucas anywhere outside.   His gaze slowly drifted

towards the end of the jetty and he saw the slumped and dejected looking figure sitting hunched up against the pylon.

      "Captain" Ben said in a low voice.  "I think I have found him as he pointed Kristen and Bridger's attention to Lucas

sitting at the end of the pier.   They all felt their hearts fill with pity when they saw that the boy's thought were somewhere

else.  It didn't take a genius to work out where his thoughts were.   

      "I'll go and tell him about the phone call" Ben said.  He would be true to his word but at the moment he really didn't

care if the kid took any notice of the message from Rowlands or not.  He just wanted to let the kid know that he was

there for him.  

      Lucas was still going over the conversation that he and John Taylor had back in the abandoned factory.   He tried

to put meaning into every word the man had spoken.   At least that way Lucas could reason that the man hadn't died

for nothing.  That his family or friends might have been able to take some solace in his death and gain comfort that 

his life wasn't a total waste.   At the moment he was having a hard time trying to find that meaning or a reason for his

death.   Even if he was the scum of the earth, he deserved the single right given to all people in this world – the choice

to live.

      Ben had tried to make his last few approach steps to Lucas louder so as to attract the boy's attention.   They didn't

work and although Ben said a few words, Lucas reaction was not what he had hoped for.   

      Ben had put his hand on the boy's shoulder.   Whether to alert his presence or to be a comforting sign, Lucas had

turned around startled by Ben's touch.   The boy looked as though he had been struck by something and was almost

cowering away in fear.    Ben had to utter a few more consoling words and get the boy to look at him directly in the face

before the recognition set in and Lucas realised that it was his Ben talking to him and not the ghosts from the past in his

head coming back to haunt him.

      "Sorry Ben, I didn't hear you" Lucas said apologetically.

      "It's me that should be sorry Lucas.  I didn't mean to scare you" Ben said as he knelt beside the teenager.

      "Got worried about you when I woke up and found your bed empty." he added.

      "Yeah, sorry about that too, but I just needed to clear my head a little on my own" Lucas said. "You know

      how it is?"

      "Not really Lucas" Ben admitted "I can't possibly imagine what's going through your head at the moment or

      what you saw last night.  I can't explain how sorry I am about not being there to met you at the café."

      "It's okay Ben" Lucas said in a voice devoid of all emotion.  He was saying all the right words, but they didn't

      really have any meaning to them at the moment.    It was almost like he had rehearsed the answers before

      Ben even asked the questions.

      "Just got a telephone call from that copper down town" Ben now said trying to avoid the current topic of conversation.

      "Said he wants you to ring him and he says it's urgent.  Wouldn't tell me what it was about."

      Lucas just nodded his acknowledgement and got to his feet and started to walk back towards the house.

      As he got nearer the front steps, it was the second time in the one day that he almost tripped on the loose

      top step.   "Gotta fix that step one day" he muttered to himself and walked inside the house.

      Bridger and Kristen were trying their best to act normal by sitting at the breakfast table having a cup of

      coffee.  True was there had never been any coffee in the cups to begin with.  They had hurriedly gone to the

      table upon hearing Lucas's footsteps on the patio to avoid being caught peering out of the front door.

      Lucas looked their way but didn't say anything to them.  He could tell the scene was fake but he didn't

      really care at the moment.

      "Number's beside the phone Luke" Ben said as he walked in the door behind the sullen teenager.

      Lucas picked up the small piece of yellow paper with the scribbled telephone number on it.   He looked

      briefly at the telephone in front of him and then back at his family behind him.  Something inside told him

      that he needed to keep them out of this investigation as much as possible.   He knew they would be there

      for him when he needed it.  But he also knew that he had to protect them as much as possible from knowing

      too much about the man called Bruce Jackson.   It was going to get ugly enough without getting them into

      more trouble.   

      "Thanks I think I will make the call from my room if that's alright" he said, again with the same lack of emotion

      that he had used back out on the pier.

      Bridger cursed inwardly because he knew that they all secretly  wanted to know what Rowlands wanted to

      tell Lucas.

      Upstairs in his room Lucas started to dial the  telephone number to the police station.   At one point he almost

      hung up and forgot the whole idea.   But then he forced himself to focus and redialled the number.

      "Can I speak to Inspector Rowlands please" Lucas said as voice answered the phone.

      "One moment please" came the almost recorded response.

      "Inspector Rowlands here" the officer said as he picked up the call.  "Can I help you" he asked as he had yet

      to be told who the call was from.

      "Inspector this is Lucas Wolenczak" the teenager said in a whisper.  He swallowed his nervousness before

      continuing with his next sentence.   "I was told you wanted to talk to me urgently."

      "Yes Lucas" Rowlands answered.  "I don't how easy this is going to be to hear, but we've arrested a man we 

      believe to be the suspect in the murder.  We will need to come and take a statement from you and start making

      arrangements for a committal hearing before a judge."

      "When did you want to take my statement?" Lucas said as he hid the dread that was dwelling up inside him.

      "I was hoping we could do this tomorrow Lucas.  We need it to be as soon as possible to arrange a hearing

      date before the judge." Rowlands explained.

      "Tomorrow it is then.  I should be here anytime" Lucas said.

      "Lucas, there is also the need for you to see a piece of evidence from the scene." Rowlands said, leaving the

      sentence unfinished.  He didn't know how the young man would react to seeing the item he had to show him.

      "Bring it with you tomorrow" Lucas said trying to hide his fear.  "May I ask who the man is that you have in

      custody?"

      "Yes, it's the man we suspected from the beginning.  A Mr Bruce Jackson.  I doubt you would have heard of

      him.  He's a small time operator with some bigger connections.   Hopefully if you're description of him tomorrow

      matches, we can go to the committal hearing and have you identify him before the judge.   At the moment most

      of the evidence is circumstantial and it needs your eye witness statement and identification of the defendant to

      seal the case against him for trial before a judge and jury.

      "See you tomorrow Inspector" Lucas said as he hung up the phone before his voice betrayed him.   Somehow he

      was going to give his statement without relinquishing his secret about having met Jackson before.

      ************************************************************************************************************************************

      In a cell in the city police station,  Bruce Jackson was meeting with Carl Lopez in the visitors cell.

      "So you think this kid they have named is the same one?" Lopez asked his boss.

      "You bet it is.   All we gotta do is make him sweat a little and scare him enough not to testify.   That's the 

      best tool we have with this upcoming hearing.  By legal right they have to divulge all the evidence they have

      and provide a copy of the names of the witnesses they have.   My lawyer gave me a copy just an hour ago.

      I could scarcely believe our luck when I saw the name."

      "What do you want me to do" Lopez asked as he neared the door to exit the cell.

      "Just don't mess it up" Jackson warned. 

     HOPE YOU ARE ALL ENJOYING SO FAR – EXPLANATIONS TIME FOR WHAT'S COMING UP………….

      ALL OF THE COURTROOM STUFF YOU WILL SEE IS COMING FROM FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE.  I WORK IN

      A COURTROOM IN AUSTRALIA EVERY DAY FOR WORK.   I HAVE BASED WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS COURT

      TO WHAT I DO AS A DEPOSITIONS CLERK.  WITH SERIOUS CHARGES SUCH AS THIS IN AUSTRALIA,  THE

      FIRST HEARING IS CALLED A COMMITTAL HEARING – THIS IS WHERE THE STATEMENTS OF THE WITNESSES

      AND ALL THE EVIDENCE IS PRODUCED.  WITNESSES CAN BE CROSS-EXAMINED AND RE-EXAMINED.

      UPON COMPLETION – THE RELEVANT MAGISTRATE DECIDES WHETHER THERE IS ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO

      COMMIT THE PERSON TO TRIAL BEFORE A JUDGE AND JURY.

      MOST OF WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN COMES FROM ME WATCHING THESE SORT OF HEARINGS EVERY DAY AS

      I RECORD THEM AND REMEMBERING WHAT TYPE OF QUESTIONS ARE ASKED.   

      I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE AMERICAN COURT SYSTEM IS ABOUT SO THAT'S WHY I WROTE THIS LITTLE

      EXPLANATION – I AM FROM AUSTRALIA AND SO OUR SYSTEM IS PROBABLY A LITTLE DIFFERENT.


	4. CHAPTER 4

**SOLITARY WITNESS**

      It was a good hour before Lucas came down from his bedroom after making the telephone call to Inspector Rowlands.

      Bridger, Kristen and Ben were still seated in the living room, waiting to hear what was going on.   None of them

      said anything as the teenager descended the stairs.

      "Rowlands says they have arrested someone for the murder" Lucas said to them.  "They want to come by tomorrow

      and take my statement." he added.  He didn't believe there was much point hiding this information from them.  They

      would probably hear about  the arrest on the evening news anyway.  Bridger and Kristen would want to know who

      was turning up at their house tomorrow as well.

      "Are you sure your ready for this Lucas" Kristen said.  She was worried that Lucas was still keeping everything locked

      away inside.   She was concerned about Lucas's emotional state after he recalled the events of that night in front

      of perfect strangers tomorrow.  "Maybe you could ask them to come back in a day or so when you've had a little more

      time to think" she said trying to sound tactful about the whole affair.

      "No, but I'd rather get this over with sooner rather than later." Lucas admitted.  It was now that they other three in

      the room first noticed that the teenager had changed clothes.

      "Dad?" Lucas asked nervously, not knowing how the older man would react to his next question.  "How would you

      feel about me going to the mainland this afternoon.?"

      "Lucas………… I don't know" Bridger started to say, trying to wrack his brain for a good enough reason to keep

      him at home.  Unfortunately at the moment he couldn't come up with one in a hurry.

      "Ben could come with me" Lucas said in his best pleading voice whilst looking at Ben when he said it.  "I need

      to get out of here and clear my head or I'm going to go crazy." 

      Ben was more than willing to oblige his friend "Sure Lucas, I'll go with you where you want to go" he offered,

      trying somehow to make up for leaving the teenager at the café.

      "Well, I can't say I think it's a good idea, but I don't know what to say to prevent you going" Bridger said

      truthfully.  "Are you sure this is the best thing right at the moment.  Maybe you ought to be getting ready

      for the interview tomorrow" Bridger said grasping at straws and stumbling onto a bit of logic along the way.

      "Like I said Dad, I need to get out and clear my head.  Especially because of tomorrow" Lucas said.   

      "Where are you planning to go then?" Bridger asked.

      "Probably just somewhere like the mall.  I know it sounds strange, but I feel the need to be somewhere with

      a large of crowd of people.  Hopefully the hustle and bustle of all those people will take my mind off things."

      Lucas tried to explain.  What he really was trying to Bridger was that he needed to get away from himself

      for a few hours and away from the thoughts running rampant in his head.

      "You make sure you look out for him Ben" Bridger said a little more sternly than he intended.

      "Yes  sir Boss, I promise I take care of the little nipper" Ben said jokingly in his best piccaninny voice.

      Bridger threw a playful punch at the young Lieutenant and gave Lucas an awkward looking hug before the

      two of them were heading towards the door.  

      "We will be back in a few hours" Lucas said trying to ease the worry he saw on the faces of his Dad and Kristen.

      Bridger nodded his head to acknowledge that he had heard the teenager's words.  Something about the awkwardness

      of his embrace told him that Lucas was keeping things from him.  There was of course the whole thing with the

      murder that he had yet to hear about, but something about the almost haunted look in Lucas's blue eyes told him that

      the kid was hiding much more.  He wanted the kid to open up to him and tell him everything.  He only hoped that the

      interview with Inspector Rowlands could well prove to be the ingredient that was needed to let the secrets be revealed.

      ***************************************************************************************************************************************

      The ferry ride across the water from Bridger's island to the mainland took approximately 40 minutes.    During that time

      Ben Krieg had tried to be his normal jovial self, but the distant and haunted look that the Captain had noted in the 

      teenager was even more apparent as Ben watched Lucas gaze aimlessly over the small white capped waves.

      Is there something you want to share with me Lucas?" Ben asked, deciding that the direct approach he normally

      adopted might actually work.   

      "Not at the moment Ben" Lucas said without even looking back at his friend as he spoke.   "Thanks but I need to

      work this one out on my own."

      "You don't have to you know" Ben said as he tried to prod the kid just a little more.  "You don't have to go through

      something like this alone.  Whatever happened, I will understand.  You have nothing to be afraid of." he added.

      "Thanks Ben" Lucas said now purposely turning to his friend and putting a hand on his shoulder.  "I really appreciate

      the concern, but not right now."   How could he possibly tell his friend that there was everything to be afraid of when

      people like Bruce Jackson were involved.   

      Ben wanted to try and continue his friend to tell him what happened that night, but just as he was about to try and

      talk to the kid again, the whistle on the ferry sounded, alerting them to the fact that they were docking at the pier.

      Ben would have to waited until the return trip back to try and approach the kid again.

      "Where do you want to go?" Ben asked as the pair disembarked along the thin gang plank to the jetty.  There was

      a row of taxi cabs at the end of the pier that would take them anywhere in the city they wanted to go.

      "I haven't really thought about it" Lucas admitted "You choose, just as long as there are a lot of people".

      Ben decided to stick to Lucas's earlier destination of the city mall.  They both climbed into the back seat of the

      taxi and Ben told the driver where to take them.  

      Ben and Lucas failed to notice a plain black sedan tailing the cab all the way from the jetty.    Carl Lopez's 

      thugs decided that the best place to wait for the unsuspecting teenager was the docks, as the kid would have 

      to arrive by ferry from the island.     Lopez had decided that he would wait until announcing his presence to

      the unsuspecting teenager.  

      The tailers were told just to tail the kid and make sure that he noted their presence.  Since a few of them would

      be recognized by the kid from when he lived with his father, Lopez hoped to unnerve the kid as he walked around

      in public.   The kid would start to get paranoid and hopefully allow himself to be caught alone for Lopez for have

      a '_private chat' with him about what he thought he saw that night._

      The sedan pulled up some 50 metres from the entrance to the mall.  They had arrived just in time to see the back

      of Ben and Lucas as they walked through the automatic doors of the shopping centre.  Four men from the vehicle

      now got out and started to head towards the centre.   They were all casually dressed so as not to draw attention

      to themselves.   Once inside, the plan was to slip up and base themselves at various intervals around the centre.

      As the kid made his way through the centre, they would secretly show themselves and discreetly indicate their

      purpose for being there.

      Once inside Lucas actually looked as though he was starting to relax a little.  Well relax in Lucas terms Ben told

      himself as he continued to watch the emotions play across the face of his young charge.

      Ben was even happier when Lucas chose his first point of call to be a computer shop.  Maybe, just maybe the kid

      was coping okay.   The kind of shop was like a candy shop to the teenager.  There were gadgets of all sorts and

      sizes on the shelves.  Most of them were expensive and Ben had no idea what they were actually used for.  Lucas

      however oohed and aahed with surprise and delight at all the new play toys that had come onto the market since

      he last looked.

      Lucas chose a few small articles with a reasonable price tag attached.  But the shopping wasn't finished there.

      Next came the rows and rows of software and peripherals.   There were computer games and software packages

      that enabled you to do almost anything on them.  Ben's mind boggled at the large assortment of boxes before him

      as he followed the teenager around.

      $500.00 dollars later and Lucas was pleased with himself as they left the store together.   For the first time in since

      he arrived on the island, Ben saw the first glimpses of a genuine smile on the boy.  

      Ben thought that he would take full advantage of the light hearted mood Lucas seemed to be in as they continued

      their stroll through the aisle of shops.   He didn't know when the kid last ate, but knowing Lucas eating patterns

      of the past when he was in a better frame of mind,  he knew that it probably hadn't been today at least.

      "How bout something to eat?" Ben suggested casually as they walked along.   

      "Yeah sure" Lucas said although he really wasn't hungry.  He knew that if he didn't at least attempt to eat something,

      then Ben would nag him until they got back to the island where Bridger and Kristen would get told and they would

      chew him out some more.  Better to give in slightly to avoid an all out war of words he told himself.

      Ben chose an empty table in front of one of the many food stores inside the centre.  There was a vast variety of

      tastes and cultures to be catered for if you wanted.   "What will you have Lucas, I'm buying" Ben said as he got

      up from the table ready to go and make their order.

      "You're buying?" Lucas asked incredulously.  Ben Krieg offering to pay for anything was something unheard of 

      before.   Lucas had often made a joke about how tightly Krieg's wallet was wrapped up.  Now the man was

      openly offering to buy lunch.   "Just chips and a coke then Mr Money Bags" he said jokingly.

      "Only for you pal" Ben said with a bit of truth to it and walked over to stand in line at the nearby counter.

      Now sitting on his own at the table, Lucas was forced out of boredom to take a look around the rest of the area.

      There wasn't much to see but other people sitting down at the tables and starting to order their own lunches.

      One man a few tables away managed to spill an entire large cup of soft drink onto his lap, soaking into his 

      expensive looking suit.  Lucas stifled a laugh at the sight, but abruptly looked away when the man scowled back

      at the mirth the teenager saw in his little accident.

      Looking over to his other side, Lucas saw something that made his mouth run dry.   All of a sudden in a crowded

      room full of people, his gaze fell upon a familiar face.  One that he had not seen in a long time, but one that made

      him extremely nervous and uneasy.

      Ben's back was to Lucas so he was unaware of the other person seated on the other side of the teenager.  

      Lucas immediately tried to divert his gaze in the other direction, but something about the man caused him to

      look back again.   He knew that the man was looking at him.  He even knew the man's name.  He was trying to

      tell himself that it was just a mistake and he really didn't see the man looking in his direction at all.  

      His name was Bill Stubbings, Lucas's mind told him.  He was one of Carl Lopez's men.  The man was sitting

      casually at the table like others beside him, and he pretended to be reading a newspaper whilst sipping at a cup

      of coffee.   Everything Lucas's gaze came back to the man though, the teenager felt as though the man could

      see right through him.  The eyes were the most drawing thing on his face.  They Lucas the whole reason why the

      man was there.     

      Lucas didn't know how or the circumstances, but he now drew the assumption that Jackson somehow knew that

      he was the witness in the Taylor murder.  

      By the time Ben came back to the table with the meals, he could see that the atmosphere had changed dramatically.

      Lucas was now sitting at the table playing with a napkin in his hands or what used to be a napkin Ben said to himself

      as he looked at the small pieces of torn paper on the table.    

      Lucas had found himself fidgeting with things trying to hide his nervousness.   His hands had come across the folded

      napkin and then while his gaze drifted back and forth from his own table to Stubbings, he had absentmindedly torn

      the paper into small pieces.

      Lucas had been too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice Ben approaching the table with the lunches he bought.

      He mistakenly placed the tray on the table with a clatter and Lucas just about jumped out of his skin at the startling

      noise.   He looked up sheepishly at Ben and apologized about being so jumpy, but something in the boy's eyes told

      Ben that something had happened since he left the table.   Ben looked around the room, even towards Stubbings, but

      could not point out anything out of the ordinary that would have caused the kid to act so differently.

      Lucas found his eyes drifting back to the table where Stubbings had been.  Ben tried to follow the boy's nervous

      stare to see what had the boy's undivided attention.  Lucas almost gasped out loud now when the table was now

      vacant.  The man had been there but a few seconds ago.   Lucas now starting looking around the room for Stubbings.

      He looked all around the immediate area, even moving position in his chair so that he could glance behind him.

      Nothing.  The mind games were just beginning.

      "You alright Lucas?" Ben asked worriedly as he looked at his young friend.  It was hard not to notice Lucas's odd 

      behaviour.   

      "Um no not really Ben" Lucas admitted while he tried to settle himself down inside.   His heart was racing and if

      he wasn't careful, he was going to have a panic attack right here and now. "Do you mind if we skip lunch and

      just head home?"

      Ben looked at the still uneaten meals he placed on the table and then back at Lucas.  The kid's face was a whole

      lot paler and the kid really didn't look the best. "Sure Lucas if that's what you want" Ben finally said.

      Lucas almost stumbled as he got up hurriedly from the chair and began walking towards the exit.  Ben had to

      rush to catch up with the fleeing teenager.  He was confused.  It was almost as if the kid was running from something.

      It certainly looked as though he was looking for someone back at the table.  What was going on? he asked himself.

      Lucas was a few steps ahead of Ben.   It was now due to his gaze flitting all around the large building that Lucas had

      to inwardly gasp as he spotted the other men in their various positions.   He could see Larry Hughes standing beside

      the shop fronts about 10 metres in front of him.  He couldn't be sure but he thought the man had winked back at

      him over the top of the newspaper he had in his hand.

      By now, with the nervousness growing at an alarming rate within him, Lucas found his walking pace increasing.

      His fear was taking a strangle hold on him as he saw the men that seemed to blend into the crowd but then be

      staring right back at him when he looked their way.   

      By the time Lucas recognized Steve Barker seated at the exit to the shopping centre on a public bench, he was

      almost running.  Ben behind wondered what had startled the kid enough for him to start running through the centre.

      The kid didn't stop running until he reached the footpath on the other side and waited for Ben to catch up so they

      could get a taxi back to the jetty.

      "What's the rush Luke?" Ben asked as he finally reached where Lucas was standing.   They hailed a cab and

      watched one approach them from a distance.

      "Just want to get home" Lucas said without adding any further explanation for his need to run.  

      On the ferry trip back to the island, Lucas was even more withdrawn and sullen than the trip over.  Instead of

      gazing out over the water though, the kid sat in the far corner of the ferry, as though trying to appear invisible to

      everyone else aboard the ferry.   Ben was too worried about the kid to try and pry a reason out from him.  He

      knew that he would have to tell Bridger and Kristen about the kid's strange behaviour as soon as they got back.

      Bridger and Kristen heard the sound of footsteps on the veranda as Lucas and Ben approached the door.

      "They couldn't be back this quick could they?"  he asked Kristen as he walked to the front door and prepared

      to open it.

      Bridger barely got the front door open when Lucas rushed past and headed towards the stairs.  He didn't stop

      to say hello or anything else for that matter.  It was up to Ben to answer the questioning looks from the Captain

      and the doctor.

      "What is wrong with Lucas" Bridger asked.

      "Don't know Sir to tell you the truth" Ben replied truthfully.  He walked into the living room and sat down and proceeded

      to tell the two of them all that had happened whilst at the shopping centre.  He spoke of how Lucas seemed thoughtful on

      the ferry trip over to the mainland.   He then told them that there was a definite change of mood in the teenager when

      the kid entered the computer store and how the Lucas actually seemed happy upon leaving the store again with parcels

      in both hands. 

      "What happened after that?" Kristen asked trying to read what all of these little changes might have meant.

      "I asked him whether or not he wanted some food." Ben said.  "I went to order at the counter.  By the time I got back

      with the food, that's when I noticed he was back to the sullen mood he had been in from earlier.  There was something

      else too but I just couldn't put my finger on it at the time.  He said he wasn't feeling very well and asked if we could

      go home.  I said yes and that's when he practically ran from the table in the cafeteria to the taxi rank and we caught

      the ferry home."

      "What do you mean something else happened?" Bridger said trying to feed his curiosity.

      "Well when I got to the table like I said, it was almost as though he was feeling scared."  Ben said  "I looked around

      and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but the kid's face looked pale and his eyes were darting about in all

      directions as though he was looking for something or someone in particular" he said trying to emphasize the word

      someone.

      "What do think it all means Nathan?" Kristen asked as she tried to put the pieces of the jigsaw together.  

      "I don't know but I think I had better go and try having a talk with him" Bridger said as he got out of the armchair

      and started to head upstairs.

      Bridger tried to work out in his head what he would say when he got to Lucas room while he trudged up the

      stairs.   The words though didn't come easily and he would just have to wing it when he got there.  He reached

      the  door and stood outside it for a moment before slowly reaching his hand out to touch the door knob.

      For a moment he was sure that it was going to burst into flames like it had the time they went aboard the

      GEORGE.  To his utter shock and surprise when he went to turn the knob, he found the door locked.

      "Lucas are you in there" Bridger asked through the closed door.  There was no response from the other side.

      "Lucas, it's Dad, let me in please I want to talk."  still no response.   Kristen and Ben had climbed the stairs

      after they heard Bridger exclaim about the door being locked.  He looked at them as the door remained locked.

      "He won't answer." he said with a little sadness in his voice.

      "Let me try Captain" Ben suggested.   "Lucas" he said gently as he too tried to turn the door knob.  It didn't

      budge for him either. "Lucas we just want to talk to you and make sure you're alright."  his statement was met

      with the same cold stone silence that Bridger had come up against.

      "Let's just leave him alone for a while" Kristen suggested to them both.  She got cold stares from both men at

      her suggestion  "I am only trying to see things from Lucas's perspective.  At the moment he is very scared and

      doesn't quite know how to release his feelings.  We have to let him come to us not bully him into telling us

      what's bothering him.  Bullying him or trying to coax it out of him when he's not ready might only make him

      retreat into himself even more." Kristen explained.

      Ben and Nathan looked at Kristen and then each other as they thought over what she had just said.    They

      both nodded agreement and reluctantly went back downstairs to allow the kid to calm down on his own.

      Kristen told them that she didn't know how long Lucas might remain unco-operative.  They would just have

      to wait and see.  These words were of very little comfort as Ben sat on the couch trying to fill his time with

      reading a magazine.   Bridger paced up and down the room so much that he was sure to rub a hole in the

      carpet by the end of the night.

      As evening got closer and closer, Lucas still didn't show any signs of coming out of his room.  Kristen had

      kept herself busy during the remainder of the afternoon and cooked them all a sparse meal.   She didn't really

      think that either man had food on their list of priorities but they had to try and keep things as normal as possible.

      Inside his bedroom, Lucas sat on his bed and tried to think over the events of the last few days.  He tried to think

      about what he would tell Inspector Rowlands when he showed up the next day.  He thought back over the words

      that John Taylor had spoken as a warning.  He tried to work out why Lopez's goons were trailing him, although it

      didn't take a genius to work out that.  

      As evening merged into nightfall, Lucas's bedroom door remained locked and Bridger and the other were getting

      just that little bit closer to their wit's end.  They had tried every trick in the book to draw the young man out of his

      room to talk about his feelings.   

      Finally exhausted themselves, Kristen and Ben persuaded Bridger after a rather long battle of words to leave the

      kid to himself for the remainder of the night.  Hopefully Lucas would come out by morning and let them into his

      secret world.

      It was approximately 1am in the morning when the lock on Lucas's bedroom door turned in the opposite direction.

      Lucas didn't emerge from the room.  He just resumed his position sitting on the bed.  Sleep had yet to come to

      the troubled young man.   His emotions ranged from sullen and subdued to fits of anger at the thought that another

      human life had been taken for no apparently good reason.  He felt frightened at the threatening looks he had gotten

      from Lopez's men at the shopping centre and what his involvement in the case could mean for the future.  He even

      laughed a little at the thought of Bridger's and Ben's attempts to get him to talk to them about what happened.

      At the end of the long night Lucas found himself asking the same question over and over again about John Taylor's

      murder :  WHY.

      At about 6.00am that morning Lucas came out of his room and determinately set about completing the repairs to

      the front step on the front veranda.  The time of the day really didn't note in Lucas's tormented and sleep deprived

      mind.  He grabbed a hammer and a few galvanised nails and went out on to the front decking.

      Lucas started to remove the older nails first that were sticking up out of the wooden flooring.   Then he went about

      replacing them with the new ones.  All the time he was working the same thoughts kept wandering through his mind

      that had been plaguing him upstairs.  WHY. 

      The more he thought, the harder and louder the hammering became.   For a number of nails, he seemed to be still

      hammering in the same place long after the name had been driven in.   His thoughts were of other things.  What could

      he have done differently to change things?  This was when the self doubt began to set in heavily.  The more he thought

      about what little he had actually done the night that John Taylor, the angrier himself he became and the louder and

      harder the hammering continued.

      It was the infernal and endless hammering that first awoke Bridger and Kristen that morning.  Bridger grumbled and

      snarled at whoever was making such a racket at this hour of the morning.   He never guessed it would be Lucas 

      taking his frustrations out on the decking below.

      "Whoever that guy is, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind" Bridger said as he got up from his nice soft warm

      bed and put his dressing gown on.   He stomped all the way down the stairs ready to let go at the neighbour that

      might have been disturbing the peace of sleep this early in the morning.

      Ben and Kristen who had also been awoken, now followed the Captain for fear of what the sleep-deprived man might

      do rashly to whoever was making the noise.

      Bridger opened the door and was about to let loose a colourful string of obscenities when he spotted the person

      responsible.   He stood there in silence for a few moments watching the kid from behind as he continued his 

      hammering of the decking.

      He stepped silently to the right to get a better look at the kid's face, but what he saw almost broke his heart in

      two pieces.   Lucas was sitting with hammering in hand while tears were streaming down his face.   There were

      a few angry words being uttered incoherently to himself as he admonished the person inside talking to him.

      "Oh Lucas" Bridger said in a whisper as it finally came obvious that the kid was at the end of his emotional

      rope.  It was now that the kid, deliberately or not, chose to let all of his feelings out at once.  Bridger couldn't

      bare to see the boy looking this miserable.

      Lucas had heard a noise behind him on the decking, but didn't really care who it was.  He thought briefly about

      getting to his feet and making a run for it back to his room or along the jetty to the water.   The thought was only

      brief though and he continued to sit on the floor consumed by guilt, rage and utterly exhausted from being awake

      all night.

      Bridger sat down beside the distraught teenager and tried to pull him into a comforting grasp.   The kid started to

      resist and pull away from the comfort.  He told himself over and over in his mind that he didn't deserve such

      sympathy and understanding. 

      "It's okay to let it out Lucas." Bridger said soothingly.  "We are right here for you pal".

      "But you don't understand Dad" Lucas said as the tears of frustration now increased rather than decrease.   

      "Please help me to understand Lucas" Bridger replied as he now wrapped his arms tightly around the boy's

      shoulders.  The boy was trembling as he finally gave up his battle and collapsed against Bridger's chest and

      cried even harder.  Bridger was taken aback by the boy's sudden surrender and could only look back at the

      others with tears of his own as he tried to work out how to help this boy that was screaming out to be heard.

      "I couldn't do it" Lucas finally said as he tried to calm himself down enough to explain.   "No matter how hard

      I wanted to or what I tried to do I couldn't do it".   Bridger was now utterly complexed as to what the kid was

      actually talking about.  Something made him think that the boy's breakdown might have been due to what

      he had endured at the hands of his father and now the memories were coming back to haunt him.   

      "What couldn't you do Lucas?" Bridger asked as he continued to rub the boy's back.  

      "I couldn't save him.  When the others left him for dead, he was still alive." Lucas stammered  "I came out of

      my hiding place and knelt beside the man while he bled all over the factory floor.  I got some old rags I found

      and tried to stop the flow of blood, but it didn't matter what I tried, nothing worked.   Finally after talking to the

      man about his life and the family he was leaving going to leave behind, I watched him take his last few breaths

      and then he died."  Lucas said and then was over come again at the thought of the man's death.

      Bridger and the others now understood that Lucas was talking about the murder he had witnessed.  

      "Why couldn't I have done something more?.   Why couldn't I have gone to someone and called for help?  Why

      did I just sit there and let the man die in my lap? WHY WHY WHY" Lucas said now almost shouting before

      crying into Bridger's shoulder again.

      "I don't know the answers to any of your questions Lucas" Bridger said as he tried to console the sobbing boy

      in his lap.  Until now not one of them truly understood the magnitude that something such at this had affected

      the gentle natured teenager.  They all suspected that it would hit him hard, but until this very moment they really

      didn't seem to understand how much.

      Kristen was crying herself as she heard the boy's heart wrenching words of self reproach.  The fact that the boy

      thought he was somehow responsible for the man's death made her even sadder for Lucas.   

      Ben was comforting Kristen but could only look on with sorrow and sadness as he watched the boy give his

      first real account of what he had seen.

      SORRY FOLKS BIT OF A MUSHY ONE I KNOW.   WAS GOING TO ADD THE REALLY GOOD BITS TO 

      THIS ONE BUT I'LL WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT POST.

      OH THAT'S RIGHT – YOU GUYS WANTED TO KNOW WHAT LUCAS STEPPED ON IN "WHISPERS ON 

      THE WIND"…….. OH WELL WILL HAVE TO LEAVE THE GOOD BITS UNTIL I DO THAT WON'T I????

      ENJOY – HOPE YOUR ENJOYING SO FAR 


	5. CHAPTER 5

**SOLITARY WITNESS**

      For the longest time Bridger just sat holding Lucas, letting the boy talk to him rather than the other way around.

      He sensed that all the emotions of the past couple of days were built up inside the teenager like a wall of energy

      just waiting to be expelled.   

      After Lucas's long and heart-wrenching account of self reproach, there was silence.   Silence that was almost

      deafening.   Bridger once again refrained from interrupting the troubled boy.   The boy's head was softly cushioned

      by Bridger's shoulder.   The rest of Lucas's body was curled up in a ball full of tension.    

      Kristen and Ben had stood by the doorway during this time, not wanting to intrude on the closeness that was

      happening between father and son at the moment.    Kristen could now see that the teenager was now sleeping.

      Probably due to the fact that he hadn't slept all night coupled with the thoughts that had plagued him all this time

      since the murder.  The boy was exhausted and so now his body demanded sleep.    

      "He's asleep Nathan" Kristen whispered as she walked up softly behind the pair sitting on the verandah. 

      Nathan nodded his head in acknowledgement.  He had guessed that Lucas had fallen asleep quite a few minutes

      ago but didn't want to disturb him by moving to try and find out.

      Kristen could see that Nathan had fought back hard to control his own emotions whilst listening to Lucas.  His

      eyes were moist with unshed tears for this boy that he loved unconditionally.   When Lucas was hurting, Bridger

      was hurting too and almost everybody that knew the two of them well came to know this as well.

      It was apparent that Lucas was deeply asleep and Kristen couldn't help but kneel down and brush a lock of

      blond hair out of his face.   She too wished she could do more to help him overcome this traumatic event.  No

      matter how much they heard the facts or how much Lucas tried to make them understand, nobody could really

      know what it was like unless they were there.

      "Ben, we might need some help here" Kristen said softly to the Lieutenant standing in the doorway.   Krieg was

      only too happy to help his friend at the moment.  God knows he felt totally useless as it was.   He stepped

      forward and tried to move Lucas from Bridger's grasp.

      Lucas started to mumble in his sleep as Kristen and Ben placed their arms around the boy's shoulders and tried

      to lift him away from the Captain.  They all froze for a moment, not wanting to disturb him.  They were rewarded

      with their patience as Lucas seemed to fall back into the sleep fog that he had briefly emerged from.   This time

      when they lifted him, he made no noise and no effort to struggle against them.    

      They all noted with a little thankfulness that Lucas had gained some weight over the last few months.   Before the

      murder, Lucas had begun to live somewhat of a normal life and it was the contentedness that enabled him to have

      a decent appetite for food and life.   Hence he had gained a few kilos and now all them grunted a little as they

      lifted his sleep dead weight from the verandah and Bridger's lap.

      Three of them managed to manoeuvre him inside the house and up the stairs to his bed.  Once inside, Kristen

      spread out the tangled sheets on his bed and Lucas was gently laid on top.   The teenager immediately rolled over

      in his sleep at the sudden comfort underneath him.   Bridger draped a thin blanket over his sleeping form and Ben

      placed a pillow over his head.   For a moment, they all just stood looking down at the sleeping boy.  They just

      hoped that Lucas would find some inner peace while he rested.

      "That Detective fellow is due later on today" Bridger said with a little worry his in voice.  "Do you think I should

      phone him and put the interview off for today Kristen?"

      Kristen thought for a few moments whilst still looking down at the exhausted and slumbering teenager.  

      "Against my better judgment, maybe this interview is exactly what he needs right now." she said with a touch

      of apprehensiveness.

      Ben and Bridger both looked at her with surprise on their faces but they respected her opinion both medically

      and as a person who cared very deeply for Lucas's welfare.

      Kristen could see the questioningly looks and so explained without being formally asked "After what we just

      saw outside, it is pretty obvious that Lucas has been holding all of this inside.   It has been gnawing away at

      him until he finally twists the story enough to believe that some of what happened could be his fault.

      If he is given the opportunity to talk things through and actually explain what happened in more detail, maybe

      his own description of events might be enough to make him understand that he wasn't responsible for anything

      that went wrong that night."

      "I'll talk to Lucas when he wakes up before he talks to the Inspector" Kristen added "But as long as he feels

      up to it, I think he should try to talk to the police officer."

      "Let's just let him rest for a while" Bridger said as he readjusted the covers for the tenth time.   

      The three of them walked out of the room quietly to let the young man sleep.  They hoped the few hours rest

      before the interview this afternoon would be enough to put him in a better frame of mind.

      ********************************************************************************************************************************

      At about three that afternoon after five hours of solid, undisturbed sleep, a very groggy and less than alert Lucas

      walked down the stairs into the living room.  

      Ben and Kristen had been sitting in the lounge room at the time and both greeted the teenager cheerily as he

      came down the stairs.   Lucas grumbled something that sounded like "Hello" and headed to the kitchen.

      Bridger had been sitting at the table, pretending to be doing some paperwork for the SeaQuest.   He gave Lucas

      a warm smile but waited until Lucas spoke to him first.   Lucas walked past him at first to the refrigerator and

      drank directly from the orange juice carton in the side of the door.   It was almost empty by the time he was finished

      but he resealed the lid and put it back anyway.

      Lucas now took a seat on the opposite side of the table where Bridger was sitting.  He looked down at the table

      top at first and played with his fingers along the grain in the wood.   He stopped briefly and then looked up at 

      Bridger ready to speak:

      "I don't know if I can do this Dad" Lucas said in a meek voice.    "It's not that I don't want to, but I just don't know

      whether I would make it through the whole thing without you know, breaking down like I did this morning."   He

      looked back at Bridger and his eyes had a pleading look in them, searching for an answer and the right thing to

      do.

      Bridger reached his hand across the table and gave Lucas's folded hands a gentle squeeze "You'll do just fine

      kiddo.   I promise"  he said truthfully.  "We'll all be right here if you need us" he added and looked at Ben and

      Kristen for a response.  Both of them nodded their immediate agreement without saying the words.  Wild horses

      couldn't have dragged either of them away from Lucas when he was asking for their help.

      Lucas didn't have much time to try and gather his thoughts together before a large rap at the front screen door

      signalling Inspector Rowland's presence.

      Bridger could feel the trembles through Lucas's hands already and tried to reassure him that every thing was going

      to be alright.  He then got up from the table and answered the door.

      "Inspector  Rowlands" Bridger said as he opened the door and shook the police officer's outstretched hands.

      Rowlands stole a look towards Lucas at the table and knew instantly that this wasn't going to be very easy on

      anybody.

      "Lucas had a bit of a rough morning Inspector" Bridger started to explain.  "He didn't get very much sleep last

      night" he added not wanting to betray the boy's trust and give away all the secrets of his break-down.

      "I'll try and be as gentle as I can and I want to Lucas to feel as comfortable as possible when giving me his

      statement" the Inspector started to say with a nervous overtone to his voice.  "However, that's what makes my

      next sentence all that bit harder to say to you all" he said leaving the words unfinished.

      "What's the problem officer?" Kristen now asked in front of Bridger.

      "Nothing is a problem, but this statement that I am about to take has to be admissible in court.  Therefore it

      has to be a statement given by Lucas himself without any outside interference or coercion.    I'm afraid I will

      have to conduct this interview on a one on one basis with Lucas."

      "You mean not one of us can be in there with him?" Bridger said a little alarmed.

      "I'm sorry Captain, but that's police policy.  If the court thinks that Lucas was persuaded with any part of his

      story, then they will throw the case out and we won't be able to get a solid conviction against our main suspect.

      I really wish there was some other way."

      "Am I allowed in as his medical practitioner?" Kristen now asked trying to spin another angle on the matter to 

      enable her to be there for Lucas during the interview.

      "No, I am afraid not Mam', but I will try to take this as slow as possible. If I think or Lucas tells me at any time

      during the interview that he is not coping on his own or that he needs a break for any reason, then I will stop the

      interview in a second."

      Lucas was feeling a little embarrassed about all of these people talking about him.  He got up from the table and

      walked over towards Inspector Rowlands. "It's alright Dad and Kristen, I'll be just fine" he said trying to be convincing.

      He could see that they all had doubts written on their faces, but at the moment none of them had much of an option.

      "Lucas how about we do this somewhere quiet and away from everybody else?  You pick the place" Rowlands said

      trying to gain the teenager's confidence.

      "How about up in my room?" Lucas suggested, not really knowing anywhere else they could talk without prying eyes

      and eavesdroppers.    

      "That's just fine Lucas.  You go up and get it set up the way you want it and I'll be up in a minute after I run over

      a couple of things with your family" Rowlands explained.  He watched Lucas all the way up the stairs until he was

      in his bedroom and out of site.

      "There is one stage of this interview that is going to be pretty harrowing on Lucas" Inspector Rowlands admitted

      "That's why I am going to leave it until after I have taken the boy's statement.  It will be the one time that I will allow

      one or all of you in the room with him." 

      "What stage is this?" Bridger asked with obvious nervousness as he looked back and forth between Ben and Kristen

      and the Inspector.

      "After I have taken Lucas's statement, I need him to identify a particular item that was left at the scene of the murder.

      Now don't get me fooled, this is a critical piece of evidence that it vital to our prosecution case, but at the same time

      it is going to be rough on Lucas when he sees it from what I know of this young man's sensitive character.   I will

      let you know when to come in" he said and headed towards the stairs with his briefcase in hand.  He briefly glanced

      back at the worried family before ascending the stairs to Lucas's room.

      *************************************************************************************************************************************

      When Rowlands entered the bedroom, Lucas was sitting crossed legged in the middle of the bed.   He looked up

      and tried to hide his dread at the task ahead of him but it was a fruitless effort.

      "Lucas, I know this isn't going to be easy for you" Rowlands said as he closed the door.   He walked over to the

      chair that was sitting beside the bed and took it upon himself to sit down in it.  "I will try and make this as painless

      as possible, but we need to know what happened that night.  We have a suspect in custody at the moment, and

      although you might not know about him, it is crucial that your statement be as accurate as possible.  Like I said

      down stairs to your parents, if the court determines your statement to be inconclusive evidence or thinks that you

      you coerced into making it, then the court will dismiss that case and we will have to let our suspect go."

      Lucas nodded his acknowledgement of how important his eye witness account of the murder was going to be if

      the matter actually proceeded to trial before a jury.   There was something about this fellow Rowlands though.

      He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but it was the mere presence of the man in the room that made

      him feel uneasy.    Maybe he was just being paranoid he told himself.

      "Okay, I want you to from the beginning, before you got to the factory." Rowlands said as he took out a portable

      tape recorder.  "I will be taping what you say and I will get you to sign the statement once it is written in paper

      format."  

      "Like I said, let's start from the beginning, but try to remember every detail, even if it didn't seem significant then.

      It might be an important clue now." Rowlands explained.

      "Well I agreed to meet Ben Krieg, the fellow you met down stairs at a café ………………………

      For the next hour or so, Rowlands listened patiently to Lucas's account of what he saw before and after the murder

      that night.  He started from where he was supposed to meet Ben at the café and how he decided to walk down the

      street after he didn't turn up.  Then it started to rain and that's when he took refuge in the abandoned factory.

      Lucas's body position changed a number of times during the recording.  There were times when he spoke at a normal

      level but others like when he was describing the actual murder that his voice became a barely audible whisper.

      Rowlands had to remind the teenager that everything was being tape recorded and that he needed to keep his voice

      up to allow it to be heard.     Lucas sat firstly with his legs crossed on the bed, but as the interview progressed, he

      would then stretch them out some and then curl them back up when he got to the nervous parts again.   It got to the

      stage eventually where Lucas gave up trying to find one comfortable position and he got up the room and started to

      pace the room as he gave his verbal account.  

      On a couple of occasions, he had peeked out through the curtains on the window as though he were looking for 

      somebody outside.  Rowlands took careful mental note of the boy's persona during the whole interview but thought

      it unwise to interrupt the obviously distracted teenager once he got started.   

      When it came to telling Rowlands about how John Taylor had been shot and left for dead and how he had tried to

      squish himself even further behind the stack of crates to avoid being detected.  At one point Lucas's voice became

      laced with emotion and it looked as though the boy might be close to breaking down.   Rowlands could see the

      boy endeavouring to hold back the tears and noted that it might be a good sign that the boy would be able to withstand

      the harrowing experience of cross-examination in court.          

      At the end of his statement Lucas told Rowlands things that he had already been privy too, like what had happened

      when the roller door of the factory was opened and the police led the distraught teenager to a patrol car and drove him

      back to police headquarters.

      "I think that's about it" Lucas finally announced as he sat down on the bed once again and tried to wipe away the

      moisture from his eyes without being too noticeable.    "I don't think there's much more to tell you." he said and 

      looked at the officer and waited for his reply.

      "Well, I must say that from what I just heard, it truly must have been a horrible experience for you.   You did really

      good to explain everything.  You have a good memory when it comes to small details.  Are you positive that you

      are not able to give me a more accurate description of the leader of the killers?" he asked trying to probe the boy

      once more about his knowledge of the man he was holding in custody.

      "I'm sorry Officer Rowlands, I didn't really get a good look at him, just heard his voice" Lucas said.   _I don't need _

_      to see his face to identify him though to know who it was.   That voice is one that I will never forget.  he thought to himself._

      "That's okay Lucas, you did really well" Rowlands said.   "If there is anything that you think of after I leave here

      today, anything at all, please don't hesitate to contact me".

      "Does this mean that it is all over?" Lucas said hopefully.

      "Mostly Lucas, there is just one other thing I need you to have a look at before you go.  I spoke to your parents

      downstairs and told them that it was alright if they were in the room when I showed it to you." Rowlands said with

      a little hesitant ness of his own.

      Lucas was on edge a little bit more now as he had not heard the conversation downstairs earlier with Kristen and

      the others.

      "Do you want to do this with them in the room or do you want to do it on your own?" Rowlands asked.

      "Um, could I have them in here please" Lucas said.  To be honest he just didn't want to do this all on his own

      anymore.  He needed to know that somebody else was there and Bridger was usually that somebody.  He knew

      that if Bridger came in then he wouldn't be able to keep Kristen or Ben out either so it was best if he asked for

      them all to be in there.

      "Sure, I just go and get them.  You just sit down and make yourself as comfortable as possible and we will all

      be right up." Rowlands said with the hint of a smile.

      Rowlands opened the door and walked down the stairs.   He could feel three sets of eyes on him before he even

      reached the bottom step.   "He did okay" were the first words he spoke and he felt three sets of lungs start

      breathing again with relief.

      "Is he okay?" Kristen said before the others got a chance.  

      "He came close to breaking a couple of times but held it in remarkably well for somebody his age.  Makes me think 

      that he will do exceptionally well on the witness stand if need be." he said trying to make them feel more at ease.

      "That's not necessarily the best method Officer" Kristen pointed out as they had already seen the effects of him 

      holding his emotions in too long.       

      "Okay, next comes the hard part like I explained earlier" Rowlands now said.  "I have already asked Lucas and he

      says that he wants you all present when I show him this particular piece of evidence"

      "Doctor, I think it would be prudent to have your medical bag with you, because I think this is going to be particularly

      traumatic for the boy." Rowlands said.

      "Then why do you have to do it then?" asked Ben who was a little peeved off that this man was about to deliberately

      torment Lucas just to get his statement.

      "Because it is the one piece of evidence that ties Lucas to the murder scene" Rowlands answered casually.  He didn't

      care for Krieg's attitude towards him but didn't think making waves at this particular stage of things was necessary.

      There would be plenty of times to make waves at a later date.

      Bridger put a restraining hand on Ben's shoulder "Come on, let's go and just be there when he needs us huh?" he

      said in a gentle voice.   Ben was still ticked off with the officer but kept his mouth shut and reluctantly followed his

      Captain upstairs to Lucas's bedroom.

      "Hi Dad" Lucas greeted them at the door trying to sound as though everything was normal.  They gave him the same

      false greeting in return.  "Hi Lucas."

      Rowlands now walked into the room followed by Kristen.  She had brought her bag into the room and for the moment

      was pleased that the teenager was distracted enough by Bridger and Ben in the room that she was able to quickly

      shuffle it to one corner of the room before Lucas saw it.

      "Do you want to sit down like before Lucas or keep standing?" Rowlands now asked trying to gauge how the kid was

      going to react to the article he held in the briefcase in his hand.

      "I just stand here if that's alright with you?" Lucas replied with a question of his own.  Bridger and Ben took a seat

      on the edge of his bed while Kristen now took up position in the chair that Rowlands had occupied earlier.

      "Lucas, I just need to quickly show you this item like I said and for you to confirm that you have seen it before."

      Rowlands explained.  Everybody else in the room was still at a loss as to what this mysterious article might be.

      Lucas nodded his head but then looked nervously towards Bridger and Ben sitting on the bed, secretly looking for some

      moral support.  He got a wan smile in response in a vain attempt to make him relax slightly.

      Lucas found that he couldn't relax though.  He watched as Rowlands casually opened the locks on the briefcase.

      The sound seeming to echo in his head.   He could see the officer's hand reaching in the bag and pulling something

      out, at the same time the hairs on the back of his neck started to rise with the fear that was starting to swell within him.

      Bridger and everybody else were also too preoccupied with the contents of the bag to see Lucas's skin colour change

      and pale dramatically.  Lucas now found himself standing on legs that were made of jelly and although his voice was 

      telling him that he needed to sit down, those same legs refused to move to his brain's requests.

      Rowlands took out a bag that contained some sort of material.   At first Bridger and Ben thought that maybe they were

      getting worried over nothing.   Lucas however knew exactly what it was.   He could see the colour of the fabric and

      the individual patterns printed on it.    

      Rowlands opened it up fully in the sealed plastic bag and held it out for Lucas to see.    Lucas swallowed the scream

      that threatened to erupt from his mouth.  Now that the other side of the fabric was exposed he could see that it was

      the shirt he had worn the night of the murder.  

      Bridger and the others gasped in horror as they too saw what the piece of evidence was.   All eyes went to Lucas.

      They now all noted the pallor of his skin and could see his eyes as big as saucers glued to the blood stains that

      marred the front of the garment.   For a moment they feared the worst might have been over as Lucas tried to force

      some words from his clenched teeth.

      "Th-that's t-the s-shirt I-I had o-on…………" he started to say when the world began to spin on him.  He held his

      hands up in an attempt to counter balance the spinning, but at the same time as the spinning started, his legs now

      decided to protest as well.   Lucas vaguely felt himself falling backwards but told himself that he couldn't prevent it

      anyway.

      Bridger and Ben were a few seconds too late to note the teenager fainting.  Ben had tried to make a last minute

      desperate attempt to catch Lucas but only grabbed at air.   Lucas now fell with a soft thud on his back onto the

      carpeted room on his floor.   He remained unconscious and unmoving.

      "Are you happy now asshole?" Ben shouted angrily towards Rowlands before kneeling with Kristen beside the fallen

      teenager.

      Bridger too was worried about Lucas fainting but thought that the cause of the emotional strain needed to be removed

      from the scene first.

      "I'm sure Officer Rowlands, you will understand if I ask you to leave now" he said in his most tactful voice.  Truth was

      he wanted to yell and rant at the man just as Ben had done.   The officer had warned them all about the kid's reaction

      but none of them could have foreseen the results being this drastic.

      "Yes, I'm sorry about this Captain Bridger and I hope Lucas will recover, but this was necessary" Rowlands said as he

      headed down the staircase to the front door.   "I will be in contact with Lucas in a day or so Captain" he said.

      Rowlands just hoped that whatever Lopez had in mind to do to the kid tonight worked.  It seemed that they had the

      kid scared now all they needed was to do a little more pushing and they were all home free.

      _Lord I hope not Bridger thought to himself after he shut the door but he knew that this was still only partly on the road_

      to the end of this whole messy affair.  Unfortunately for him and Lucas especially he doubted if this was going to be

      over very shortly and it didn't look like it was going to have a fairy tale ending.

      Bridger ran back up the stairs and now saw that Ben and Kristen had managed to move the still unconscious Lucas

      onto his own bed.   The kid was still out cold but with all the emotional strain he had had over the last few days and

      the lack of sleep, he supposed it was to be expected.

      "Is he going to be alright?" Bridger asked as he watched Kristen do her bit to check the kid over.  Ben was standing

      on the other side and looked as though he were ready to strangle something or someone.  Bridger made a note to

      make sure that all of them got a good night's sleep tonight.  They all looked worst for wear.       

      "No thanks to him" Kristen snapped back as she let her own anger at Rowland's underhanded tactics venture out.

      "I can't believe that police need to do things like that just to get a conviction.   Who knows what other emotional

      scars that little stunt might have caused.   God knows this poor boy doesn't need anymore at the moment."

      Bridger smiled inwardly.  When Kristen was this ticked off it was obvious to everybody that she was just as worried

      and scared about Lucas as the rest of them.

      "He came around briefly after we put him on the bed, but I gave him a mild muscle relaxant to help with the nerves"

      she explained knowing that Bridger would be asking soon anyway.   "I didn't want to give him a sedative but the 

      relaxant although mild seems to have been strong enough to put him to sleep.  Hopefully he will be able to get some

      decent rest through this afternoon and tonight without being disturbed." she explained.

      "Should someone stay with him tonight?" Ben now asked as he watched Kristen fuss over Lucas with blankets and

      pillows to make him more comfortable.

      "I would like to say yes, but I think all of us including Lucas like you say needs to rest properly right now. I will keep

      a check on him before we all go to bed, but other than that I think we all need to get some decent rest"   Kristen said

      Bridger was happy to hear her agree to his unspoken thoughts.  He walked over to the bed as Kristen finished her

      fussing and prepared the leave the boy in peace.   "I love you kiddo" Nathan said in a soft voice.  He didn't care who

      heard these words as he gave a quick caress to the back of Lucas's hand as he slept.

      The three adults now exited the room quietly, leaving Lucas alone in the room.  The door was closed behind them.

      ***********************************************************************************************************************************

      Bridger and the others had spent quiet afternoon all doing mindless tasks that didn't really need to be done, but

      make the time go quicker.  Kristen had checked up on Lucas twice as promised but reported him sleeping peacefully

      enough both times to ease everybody's worries.  

      By 9.00pm that night the household was totally silent.  Kristen and Bridger had retired to their own bedroom for

      the night, without being able to resist checking on Lucas first.    Ben had taken the couch downstairs and was now

      happily snoring the night away.   They were all tired.  Each of them could feel the toll of Lucas's own torment taking

      their own energy.  

      At about 10.30pm a pair of shadowy figures climbed to the outside of Lucas's bedroom.  They had been lying waiting

      and watching for the household to go dark.  One by one they had watched the lights of the rooms be extinguished.

      They had been given details as to where to find the boy's bedroom and now took their opportunity.

      A small metal screwdriver was slipped in underneath the window frame in Lucas's bedroom.  After a few more seconds,

      the lock on the inside was broken and Bill Stubbings slid the window upwards without a sound.

      Three figures, Bill Stubbings, Frank Abbott and Carl Lopez himself now climbed through the open window and looked

      down at the sleeping figure in the bed.  They had been given specific instructions from Jackson and now intended to

      carry out their deadly deed.

      Stubbings moved over to the bedroom door and made sure that the door was now locked from the inside.

      Carl Lopez now pulled an instrument from his boot and walked over to the bed.   As he approached the bed,  Lucas

      rolled over in his sleep and was lying on his side, his face in full view of the three assailants.

      Abbott moved to the other side of the bed at Lopez's nod and waited for the next bit.  Stubbings remained close to

      the doorway but now pulled out a 45 calibre hand pistol an silencer.   Just in case anybody decided to crash their

      little party.   

      Lopez could now see that everything and everybody was in place.  With a cruel and rough slap to the face he now

      forced the sleeping boy to awaken.   Lucas felt the painful sting to his cheek and opened his eyes but before he 

      could scream for somebody to come and help him, a hand was clamped hard and painfully over his mouth.

      Lucas could only look up with terror into the eyes of the one man he had come to fear.

      Once again Lucas was trying to scream through the hand over his mouth.   He needed for Dad and Kristen to hear

      him in the other room and come to help him.

      "Ah ah ah" Lopez warned and moved slightly so that Lucas could see Stubbings positioned at the door with his 

      gun.  "If you utter one sound boy, Billy over there will plug the first person to walk through that door.  Understand?"

      Reluctantly Lucas nodded his head slightly in answer.   His hopes of somebody coming to his rescue were now 

      dashed. He knew that Bridger was likely to be the first one through the door and he didn't want his Dad to pay for

      his coward ness.

      "Hello pretty boy…………………." Lopez said with a low and evil laugh.   "Want to come out and play with some

      old friends?"

      SORRY HAVE TO LEAVE IT THERE FOR NOW.   HAVE ALL YOU DETECTIVES OUT THERE PICKED OUT

      THE CURLY TWIST I PUT INTO THIS PART – HAVE FUN FINDING IT – DON'T WORRY YOU WILL ALL GET

      TO HEAR THE FACTORY DETAILS IN FULL LATER ON – I WANT TO LEAVE IT FOR THE COURT ROOM

      SCENE.  I APOLOGIZE FOR ANYBODY WHO IS OFFENDED BY THE SWEAR WORD. HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS BIT.

      JULES


	6. CHAPTER 6

**SOLITARY WITNESS**

      Lucas tried to manoeuvre his body on the bed to make his position a little bit more comfortable, but the knee from

      Lopez on his chest prevented this.

      "Surprised to see us ain't you boy?" Lopez said with a sneer.   "Now if I decide to remove my hand, do you promise

      me that you won't make a sound?" he now asked.

      Lucas looked directly into the cool and calculating eyes of Carl Lopez and knew he meant business.  He nodded

      his head slightly with the hand still clamped tightly over his mouth.

      "Remember what I said boy.  If somebody hears you or interrupts us………" he left the sentence uncompleted but

      motioned towards his partner Stubbings who once again pointed his gun towards the closed door in a threatening

      manner.

      Lopez now removed his hand from Lucas's mouth, but had no such intentions of allowing the boy to move into a

      sitting position on the bed.  From where he was at the moment, his victim was at a disadvantage when laying down

      and that was just fine with Lopez.

      "Now young Mr Wolenczak.  I believe we have some matters to discuss" Lopez said starting the conversation as

      casually as possible.

      "I don't know what your talking about Lopez" Lucas replied just as casually.  He didn't think there was any point

      to hiding his recognition of his father's ex-business partner.

      The words had only just been spoken when Lucas felt a hard slap and then a sting to the left side of his face.

      "Don't lie to me boy" Lopez warned.   "Don't for one minute think that I have forgotten what a little sneak you used

      to be when you lived with that gutless father of yours." 

      Inwardly, Lucas had to admit that only thing he had to agree on with Lopez was the comment about his father

      being gutless.  

      Lopez decided to remind the boy of what they were here to talk about, just to humour the kid.  "I believe you had

      a conversation with another associate of ours, Mr John Taylor a few days back?" he said making it come out as

      a question.

      "Yeah right after your friend Bruce put two bullets in him" Lucas replied with sarcasm.  He again felt a blow to his

      body, this time a hard punch to his stomach area.  If the area did bruise, it wouldn't be seen by anybody else.

      That was at least Lopez's intentions anyway.  If he had to rough the kid up he would, so long as nobody could see

      the damage from the outside.  Bruises and the like could be hidden by articles of clothing and Lopez was counting

      on the kid wanting to hide his visit from his new parents.

      Lucas had to take in a sharp breath to counter act the pain of the punch.  He bit his lip to stop himself from crying

      out and now looked up at Lopez as he tried to recompose himself.

      "Now those kind of outbursts are really going to get you into trouble Lucas" Lopez said as he pushed his knee into

      the boy's chest just that bit more for the boy to almost gasp out from the pressure.  "Get the message?" he asked

      sternly and got a meek nod of acknowledgement in reply from Lucas.

      "You know, for a kid who got ditched by his own father, you've done pretty well for yourself haven't you?" Lopez now

      said, briefly changing the topic of discussion.  He was talking about Lucas's life with his real father Lawrence and how

      it had sucked.  Now the kid had a new family.

      "Got yourself a knew Dad and a Mom as I hear it" Lopez said indicating that he somehow had done his homework and

      knew everything about the boy's new assumed life.  Including Bridger and Kristen.  "Got yourself a cushy job on a 

      boat, got plenty of cash to spend if you need it.  You done better than I would have said kid.  Going on past days

      and from what I know about you and your father I would have said you would wind up dead in a gutter somewhere

      years ago because your old man kicked you out on the street or paid for somebody to knock you off." 

      Lucas didn't have much of a reply.  He supposed that Lopez had a right to such an opinion when he looked back

      and noted what Lopez would have seen occur between him and his father all those years ago.  Lopez was probably

      more right than he'll ever know about Lucas ending up in the gutter because his father had kicked him out.

      That would have been the case if he hadn't been shipped off to SeaQuest and met the wonderful people aboard

      who took him in and treated him like one of their own family.  He had Bridger and Kristen to be thankful for the most.

      "Now kid, about this Taylor thing.  I have to make sure that you don't turn stool pigeon on my Boss and squeal 

      to anybody about what you saw that day.   You gotta make me believe that you will never tell anybody about what

      you know.  Not even to your new mom and dad, got it?"

      "I haven't told anybody a thing Lopez" Lucas admitted in his own defence.

      "That's what I hear kid, but I need to have insurance for the future you see."

      "What guarantee can you give me that makes me believe you won't tell anybody ever.  Especially when the police

      or somebody nosy starts asking a lot of questions and you get all tongue tied and nervous.  What's to say that you

      won't sing like a jay bird then, huh?"

      "You have to believe me" Lucas now pleaded.  Truth was he never did want to relive that nightmare for anybody.

      He doubted that he would be allowed to keep such details to himself though.  Somewhere down the track, maybe not

      tomorrow, but who knows.  Next week, next month.   It could all get too much and he would slip up and admit what

      he knew to somebody.

      "I want to believe you kid, I really do" Lopez said with no actual real truth to the words.  "But I need something more

      tangible to hang onto you see.  A verbal say-so is not good enough.  I need something more concrete that I can

      take as your solemn promise.    I need  you to understand what might happen to you if you do promise me not to

      squeal and then you break that promise."

      Lucas now started to get a little more scared and nervous.  He could see curt nods from Lopez to his men about

      their next move.   Stubbings seemed to stay where he was for the time being, but the other man seemed to be

      coming over towards Lucas.

      Lucas's eyes became fixated on Lopez's movements.    Lucas watched as Lopez now reached down with his right

      hand towards his boots and tugged at his pant's leg.   Lopez knew the kid was watching and deliberately dragged

      out his actions just to put the kid on edge.   He now slowly and carefully lifted the leg of his trousers so that his 

      boots were now exposed.

      At the top edge of the right boot, there seemed to be something inside.  Lucas just couldn't quite work out what

      it was from his awkward position.   He was straining his eyes and his neck trying to see but still couldn't get a 

      good look.

      Lopez moved his hand slightly so that the boy could see what he was doing.  And he now pulled a second small knife

      from a sheath tucked inside his boot.   The knife was only small and had a blade about two inches long.  It

      wasn't meant to kill anybody but it sure as hell scared the hell out of Lucas.

      Lopez looked back and could see that his plan was working.  Lucas's eyes were as big as saucers with fear

      as he watched Carl now hold the small knife openly in front of his face.   Lucas had no doubts about how Lopez

      intended to make his point about keeping his promise.

      "Now Lucas, Lopez said as he adjusted his knees over Lucas's chest.  About that promise…………." he said

      and now nodded again to his friend to move closer to the bed.  Lucas tried to move away but couldn't go anywhere

      because of Lopez.   He almost cried out with the fear about what was to happen that was now taking hold of him.

      "Like I said Lucas, I need something a bit more physical to tell me that you will definitely keep your promise"

      Lopez said as he again waved the menacing blade in front of Lucas's pale face.   "Now I think the best way to do

      that is for you to remember my name.   How am I gonna make sure that you remember my name Lucas?  I want

      it so that if you ever think about squealing to anybody, my name will come to mind and what the consequences

      would be."

      "I'll remember, I'll remember" Lucas said pleading for the men to leave him in alone.

      "I think the best way for you to remember my name Lucas, is to leave my name written down somewhere for you

      to see.  I could write it on a piece of paper, but that could get lost or torn.   No that's no permanent idea.  I think

      the best way for you to remember my name is if I give you my own personalized tattoo." Lopez said with a laugh.

      Lucas was now fully aware of what the men intended to do and despite the earlier warning about someone coming

      in, a scream for help was on the tip of his tongue.

      Frank Abbott was now standing beside the bed and reached over and recovered Lucas's mouth with his own

      hand.  Lucas bucked and tried to struggle against his assailants, but both men outweighed him considerably and

      with Lopez's almost full weight on Lucas's chest, it was proving more difficult by the minute just to draw breath.

      Lopez was now laughing in a low voice so as not to alert anybody else in the household to what was happening

      in Lucas's bedroom.

      At one point Bridger had opened one eye a crack to a slight noise he thought he had heard.  Kristen had listened

      for a moment and then said that both of them were paranoid and said for both of them to go back to sleep.  That is

      exactly what they did, unaware of what terror Lucas was going through nor the torment he was about to experience.

      Lopez now purposefully grabbed a hold of the t-shirt Lucas was wearing and slit it from the bottom almost all the

      way to the top.   The two halves were spread apart to reveal Lucas's pale and smooth chest.   The men wanted

      to burst out laughing at the boy's babyish features, but kept their amusement to dull snickers and cheep shots

      about Lucas needing to grow some hair to become a real man.

      Lopez wanted to shorten festivities somewhat, just in case somebody did come in to check on the kid.  He knew

      that they had done enough to scare the kid enough for tonight.   Hopefully when Rowlands played his part, the

      kid would be useless in any courtroom and Jackson would walk scot-free.

      Lucas could now feel tears of fear and frustration welling up in his eyes at the treatment he was receiving at the

      hands of his attackers. He couldn't get free no matter how hard he tried.  He know could feel the shame and

      humiliation reddening his face as Lopez played with the knife just above his chest.

      Lopez now put three small nicks in Lucas's skin.  The first was sort of rounded and shaped like a "C"

      the other two were placed together roughly to form a crude letter "L"

     The nicks were only small but blood did seep from them slowly and caused some stinging and discomfort to

      Lucas.

      Lopez pulled the knife away, signalling that the torture was over for the time being "Now Lucas you are marked

      by me.  I will keep an eye on you and my little personal tattoo will remind you of who is always watching you

      from a distance.    Remember boy," Lopez said in a low but firm voice, gripping Lucas's trembling chin for emphasis

      "If you utter a word about Taylor, your dead.  I will track you down now matter where you run and hide to."

      Lopez now motioned for Abbott to let the boy go and he too removed his knee from the teenager's chest.  The

      bleeding had now stopped all together and only looked like small smudges on the boy's skin.

      The three assailant's now edged their way back out of Lucas's window and down the way they had come.

      Lopez was the last to leave and he made sure that he had Lucas's full attention as he climbed out the window

      until the boy could no longer see him.  Lopez made sure that his eyes were hard and cold as steel he locked with

      Lucas's sky blue eyes.  The look from Lopez spoke volumes to Lucas about what danger he would find himself

      in if he spoke to anybody about John Taylor's murder.

      For a long time after Lopez's exit, Lucas sat on the bed with no emotion at all on his face.  He was sitting with

      his back to the window and didn't realise the coolness of the night until the cool breeze struck his bare skin where

      the shirt had been shredded by the knife.

      Lucas now got up and changed into another shirt.  The torn one was tossed onto the floor as was his usual practice

      with articles of his clothing.   He just wanted to forget what had just happened.   He laid down on the bed and tried

      to go to sleep on his side.  Sleep wouldn't come and the thoughts just kept plaguing his mind.  

      The words Lopez had said and the threats he had made echoed in his brain against the words he had heard come

      from the dying John Taylor as he lay bleeding on the factory floor.   Which way could he turn?  What was the right

      thing to do and which of them would still leave him alive.?

      The air temperature dropped again and Lucas shivered slightly.  He reached down towards the end of the bed and

      pulled a blanket over his shoulders.   He hadn't worried about cleaning the cuts on his chest.  They had stopped

      bleeding and he didn't think they would be noticed unless looking very closely.  If he kept a shirt on all the time for

      the next two or three days, they would soon be gone and there would be no permanent reminder except for the

      threats Lopez had made.  He knew that he couldn't tell his Dad or Kristen about what had happened without getting

      them all worried over nothing.  It was something he would need to keep to himself.

      Sometime before the dawn, Lucas's eyes finally closed and he fell into a deep sleep.  

      About eight o'clock the next morning, Kristen knocked briefly on the boy's bedroom door and then opened it and

      walked silently into the room.   She smiled as she noted Lucas still asleep in his bed.  She didn't see any reason

      for him getting up early and so decided to let him sleep.  She quietly walked over to the bed and draped the blanket

      over his shoulders that had fallen partly onto the floor.   Before she left the room, she gathered all of the loose shorts,

      and shirts and other garments she could see littering the bedroom floor.  She just intended to do the motherly thing

      and take the clothes to the laundry for Lucas.

      Later that morning when she was putting the washing into the machine, she found the torn shirt that Lucas had worn

      the night before.  She could see the large tear that rendered the shirt for the garbage bin.  She wasn't unduly alarmed

      at the state of the shirt for any particular reason but shook her head in dismay and wondered how the boy ever got to

      be so rough on his clothes as she threw it into the trash.  

      Kristen and Bridger were trying to make life appear as normally as possible for Lucas after the murder.  They had no

      idea about Lopez's visit but had thought up until the previous night that the kid was holding up particularly well despite

      what he had gone through.   Since breaking down on the verandah, the kid seemed to have had a heavy burden lifted

      from his shoulders.  There was a long road of healing ahead but Kristen had thought that after the interview with

      Inspector Rowlands, Lucas was showing signs of wanting to put the past behind him.

      Bridger and Kristen had been sitting at the kitchen table having a quiet cup of coffee when Lucas came down from his

      room about 11.30 that morning.   They both gave each other a certain look as they got a good look at the boy's

      appearance.  It was apparent even to them that the boy had had a rough night.   It appeared that they had just taken

      two giant steps back on the recovery road.

      "Mornin' Lucas" Nathan greeted him cheerily trying to hide his hint of concern.  "Want some breakfast?" he asked

      casually.

      "Um no thanks, maybe just a glass of juice" Lucas managed to say as he stuffed his hands in his pockets to hide

      the tightly closed fists.  "Sorry, didn't mean to sleep so late" he stumbled out secondly.

      Kristen got up from her chair to get him the glass of juice he asked for.  

      "Don't worry about it Lucas.  Didn't have anything better to do today anyway did you?" he asked trying to avoid directly

      asking him what his plans were.

      "Nope" came the short reply.  Lucas then picked up the glass Kristen had just placed in front of him and tried to 

      survey the scene before him over the rim of the glass.   He knew that his parents were worried about him since the

      murder.  He knew it was only right for them to be making sure that he was alright.  He just wished he could tell them

      the other half of the story.

      Bridger and Kristen had spoken for a good hour about the topic of conversation that they were just about to involve

      Lucas in.  Neither of them had been able to come up with any other plausible solution.  

      "Um Lucas, Kristen and I need to do things this afternoon" Bridger began  "some of it involves being away from the

      house for a few hours.  I already checked and Ben is coming over later, about 4.00pm, but that means that there

      is a good two hours that you will be on your own.  Are you going to be alright on your own for that time?" he now

      asked.

      "I'll be okay Dad" Lucas said.  He thought he would actually be glad that he was being left alone after all of the

      cotton wool treatment.  Truth was, he was just scared to death that Lopez and his men would come back and there

      really would be no-one to help him no matter how much he screamed out.

      "We really tried to think of a way around it Lucas, but Ben has to work on the boat and Nathan and I really can't

      avoid these appointments anymore.  I wish it could be some other way" Kristen said trying to explain away her guilt

      at leaving the boy alone so soon after a traumatic experience.

      "I'll be fine really" he said trying to reassure them.  Who was he trying to convince, them or himself?

      About an hour later, Bridger and Kristen found themselves asking Lucas the same set of questions and trying

      to get over their leaving Lucas alone.  They knew he was old enough to look after himself, but both of them were

      worried about his emotional state as a result of the murder.

      Lucas waved them goodbye and then settled himself on the lounge room chair trying to take his mind off things

      and hopefully drown out everything else in his mind by the sounds and pictures of the TV.   He knew Ben would

      soon be there to be his never ending distraction.  

      About ten minutes into watching some sitcom that he couldn't follow the plot of, Lucas fell asleep, sprawled out 

      on the length of the chair.  The tiredness from such a sleepless night had caught up with him.    

      His slumber was disturbed though by a loud rap at the front door.  Lucas awoke with a start and almost fell off

      the couch in the process.   He picked himself up and tried to calm himself down after the fright before walking

      to the front door.  

      Being totally cautious and a little nervous he asked for a name from the other side of the door "Who is it?" he

      asked in a quiet voice and then repeated the question in a firmer manner.

      "Inspector Rowlands from the City Police Department" came the official sounding reply.   Lucas felt the hairs on

      the back of his neck rise at the reply.  He couldn't quite put his finger on why he felt so uneasy around this man.

      The man was a police officer after all.  There  to protect and serve, so the badge on his shirt said.

      Lucas fumbled briefly with the handle of the door before turning the knob and opening the wooden door to greet

      the officer.   "Inspector, what are you doing back here?" he asked trying to sound uninterested.

      The door was now opened a far way and now Lucas could see that Inspector Rowlands wasn't alone at the door.

      There were two other very official looking officers at the door, one on either side of the Inspector.  They had a 

      different coloured uniform on to Rowlands.

      Rowlands could see the boy looking anxiously from officer to officer trying to work out why there were now three

      police coming to talk to him.   "Lucas, these two gentlemen are from the District Attorney's office.  They are

      here to serve you with some official legal papers" Rowlands said as he now opened the door and glided past

      the teenager still standing inside the door.  The two other officers had no emotion on their faces at all and followed

      right behind Rowlands to walk in.

      "Wh-what sort of papers?" Lucas found himself stuttering.

      "Mr Smith here will explain Lucas" Rowlands said.  He know took a step back and allowed the two other officers

      to take the stage in front of the nervous teenager.

      "Are you Lucas Wolenczak?" the first officer Smith asked.   Lucas found himself just nodding in agreement to the

      rhetorical question.

      "My name is John Smith and I work for the District Attorney's office for this state.  My other associate here is Mr

      Peter Smith.  Together he and I are here today to serve you with a summons and subpoena that directs you to

      attend a session of the Grand Jury at the time and place nominated on the papers."  

      Smith handed Lucas the documents to read.  Lucas tried to focus on the words on the page, but they all seemed

      to merge into one big blur on the paper.   Lucas's was inwardly trying to calm himself down from the fear that was

      quickly starting to multiply from within.

      "I must warn you Mr Wolenczak, as the primary witness in the case the people versus Mr Bruce Jackson, you

      would be subject to a term of imprisonment that would be become effected immediately should you decline to be

      present at such a hearing.   There will be meetings arranged between you and the Prosecutor for this case but

      for today we are just here to advise you of your obligations to the court.

      Lucas kept staring at the papers in a daze.  He scarcely heard the words being spoken to him by the officers.

      He failed to note the faint hint of a smile on Rowlands face as the Inspector saw the fear and confusion written

      all over him.

      "Good day Mr Wolenczak" the officers said and they both made their way back out the front door.  Rowlands

      stood for a few minutes longer trying to gauge the boy's reaction to the up coming hearing.   

      "Are you going to be alright Lucas?" he asked.

      Lucas just looked up at the officer.  He couldn't seem to get out the million or so questions he had in his head.

      The words had dried up in his mouth leaving a bitter after taste.

      Inspector Rowlands left the house but failed to close the door behind him.

      A few hours later, about 4.10pm, Ben Krieg was just arriving at the house when he spotted Nathan and Kristen

      pulling up outside in their car.   They all greeted each other and started to walk to the front door.

      Kristen and Ben had been idly talking when they both noticed the strange look on Bridger's face.  Bridger's

      attention was being held by the sight of the front door being ajar.   This seemed highly unusual for Lucas and

      they all instantly became worried.

      Bridger walked in the front door and immediately called Lucas's name.    There was no reply.    He walked by the

      couch in the lounge room and could see evidence of Lucas having been there earlier.  He called the teenager's

      name again.

      Kristen and Ben were now right on Bridger's toes and anxious to find Lucas.  

      "You two look down here, I'll go up and check upstairs" Ben offered.  He scaled the stairs before any negotiations

      could be made.    Kristen and Nathan continued to look together throughout the rooms downstairs.  They found

      no sign of the boy and hoped that Ben would come down and say that he was asleep in his own bed.

      A strangled cry from upstairs soon brought them both back to reality though and they scaled the staircase two

      at a time.  They weren't sure where Ben's voice had come from but knew that something was desperately wrong.

      Bridger got to the top of the stairs and was about to enter Lucas's bedroom when he heard another cry of help

      from Ben down the hallway.  It seemed to be coming from the bathroom.  

      Bridger and Kristen both raced to the bathroom and were very shocked at the sight before them and Ben on the

      floor.

      Lucas was laying beside the toilet on the tiled floor.  The aroma in the air signalled to them that Lucas had been

      sick at some stage.   The boy was now laying totally unmoving and appeared to be unconscious.    

      Kristen quickly knelt beside the boy to feel for a pulse.  She knew Ben had checked before she entered the room,

      but she needed to reassure herself.  Lucas's skin was very pale and his shirt seemed to be drenched in sweat.

      The skin was cold and clammy to the touch signalling that the boy was in some sort of shock.   She could see

      some white pieces of paper strewn about the bathroom floor, but at the moment they were the least of her concern.

      "He's in some sort of shock Nathan" Kristen said as she turned to face Bridger.  "Get a blanket, we have to keep

      him warm.   He is still shaking she now added as she held Lucas's limp hand and noted the tremors that ran through

      them.  

      "What happened" Ben now asked as Kristen continued to check Lucas over for any other signs of injury or illness.

      "I don't know Ben, I just don't know" she answered telling herself that she should never left the boy alone.  She knew

      that he wasn't ready to be on his own and now he was laying on this bathroom floor all because of her own selfishness.

      Bridger returned with the blanket and now knelt beside the boy and draped the material over the boy's damp body.

      "Why is he sweating so much" he asked noting that the boy must have really flipped out.  He didn't really understand

      what happened to the human body when it went into shock.

      "It's just the body's way of coping with the fear and anxiety" she answered trying not to reply with all the theatrical

      mumbo jumbo that she had learnt in medical school.

      "Lucas?" Bridger said stroking the boy's cheek in an attempt to wake the boy up.  Maybe it was him feeling sick that

      made him look so terrible this morning." he told himself trying to find a more rational explanation for Lucas's onset

      of strange symptoms.

      Lucas never stirred at Bridger's touch.   He was locked away somewhere in his own fear.  

      SORRY GUYS – HAVE TO LEAVE IT THERE -  BORROWED THIS LAST SCENE FROM THAT MOVIE AND

      BOOK "WITNESS" THAT STARRED SUSAN SARANDON.  THOUGHT IT MATCHED LUCAS'S SITUATION QUITE

      WELL.       HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT TIME TO FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT.

      JULES        


	7. CHAPTER 7

**SOLITARY WITNESS**

      Bridger was now sitting beside Lucas as the boy slept.  The last few hours had been some of the longest he could

      ever recall.   He could scarcely remember the feelings he had when he saw Lucas laying unconscious on the bathroom

      floor without breaking out in a cold sweat.   He looked over and saw at the moment, the boy's face was peaceful and

      serene.       

      Kristen had gone into a fit of rage after Lucas was settled and she managed to take a look at the dishevelled papers

      that had lain on the bathroom floor at Lucas's feet.  The papers were court summons, requesting that Lucas appear

      before a Grand Jury the day after tomorrow to give evidence of what he saw of John Taylor's murder.  If the evidence

      was strong enough, the jury would recommend that the charges and Mr Jackson be committed for a full trial before

      the District Court where Lucas would be expected to repeat his full story again before a bunch of strangers.

      Kristen had swore a set of colourful words and had a very hostile telephone call with Inspector Rowlands and the

      officers from the District Attorney's office about serving Lucas with legal papers when there was no other person

      at home.   Rowlands was quick to point out that the procedures used were perfectly legal, seeing as Lucas was

      18 years old.   By the end of the conversation Kristen had used every argument that she could think of but was

      out manoeuvred each time by Rowlands cool and calm replies.   Although the methods used may have seemed a

      little unorthodox,  there was nothing illegal about them and Lucas would be required to appear before the grand

      jury just like the summons instructed.   Kristen slammed the telephone receiver back on it's hook with a force that

      almost broke it in two.    She knew Rowlands was only trying to get a conviction against Bruce Jackson for the

      murder of John Taylor,  but using Lucas as the pawn in the whole operation was unacceptable.

      Bridger joined Kristen downstairs for a few minutes to talk about getting legal advice about the subpoena and what

      if anything they could do about Lucas having to appear before the Grand Jury. 

      It was Kristen's shouting at Rowlands that had awoken Lucas at first.  He laid there for a few minutes trying to get

      his bearings initially.   Once he realised that he was in his bedroom, he had to try and remember what he had been

      doing before hand.  It didn't take long though and the images of the two burly looking officers from the District

      Attorney's office together with the ominous figure of Inspector Rowlands appearing at his front door after Kristen

      and the Captain had stepped out all came flooding back.   He remembered the fear he felt when he was being told

      that he would have to attend the court when told and what the consequences would be if he didn't want to participate.

      He had been laying on his bed with his eyes closed as he remembered what had happened earlier.  He slowly and

      carefully now turned his head slightly and opened his eyes a crack so he could see if somebody was watching him.

      He could see his Dad sitting in a chair beside the bed with a very worried look on his face.   His hearing suddenly

      picked up on the sound of someone shouting downstairs and he finally worked it out to be Kristen yelling at somebody

      on the telephone.  Whoever she was yelling at, boy she was sure ticked off he told himself.    He was just in time to

      see Nathan get up from the chair and go towards Kristen's angry voice as she slammed the phone back down.

      Lucas now had the opportunity to open his eyes and gather his own thoughts without worrying about somebody

      hovering over him.  He started to become apprehensive again when he thought about having to appear before all of

      these people and tell his story.    He knew that Bruce Jackson would be there listening to every word he had to say.

      The only thing he would get back in return would be a cold hard stare.   He could hear Carl Lopez's threats echoing

      in his ears about what would happen if he spoke to anybody about what he saw.  If he didn't tell them, then he would

      be facing a jail term of his own for contempt of court.  On the other hand, if he spoke then he was facing serious 

      danger to his life from Carl Lopez and Bruce Jackson at a later date.   He was snookered whichever way the dice rolled.

      Nathan now returned to the bedroom and saw Lucas laying awake wrestling with his own thoughts.  He could see the

      fear written all over the younger man's face.  He knew that the boy was scared about having to face court.  He didn't

      know that part of it was fear from Carl Lopez and his men.

      "It's going to be okay Lucas" Bridger started to say calmly.  He had tried to put a comforting arm around the struggling

      boy.  He was unprepared for the violent reaction that he would provoke from the teenager.

      "How can you say that?" Lucas now accused his Dad as he pulled angrily away and got up of the bed.  He faced the

      Captain with anger in his eyes and scolding words on his tongue.   "How can you sit there and tell me that everything

      is going to be okay?  We all know darned well that it is not.  So don't patronize my intelligence.  I am not a baby.

      I know as well as you do what sort of roasting I am going to get once I get in that witness box" he added with contempt

      in his voice.

      "Lucas, we are only trying to help you" Bridger said with a little sadness in his tone.  He knew that they were handling

      the boy with kid-gloves and wrapping him up in cotton wool.  The only thing that they were getting from it all was an

      angry teenager who felt like he was suffocating from all the attention.  Lucas was a loner at the best of times and with

      something like this happening, it only made the kid build his barricades around him that bit higher.  

      "I know it is going to be difficult for you, but if you go in there, all you need to do is tell the truth.   Kristen and I and the

      rest of the crew will be there to back you up all the way.  We won't let them get to you." Bridger now replied.

      "Truth………" Lucas spat.  "The truth is that there are things that are going to come out in that courtroom that you may

      not way to hear Dad" Lucas said as he thought about his family and friends hearing about John Taylor's murder. 

      Lucas didn't wait for his father to respond but rather walked out of the bedroom and headed to the end of the jetty, wanting

      to be left alone with his problems.     Bridger and Kristen watched from the front door wondering what more this scared

      but strong youth had to endure.   They would all dread the next few days of the trial.

      Lucas's mood only seemed to darken over the next 24 hours before the trial began.  The prosecution for the case, a

      well educated man by the name of Mr Bill Fletcher came to Bridger's island and spoke in length with Lucas and his

      family about what would happen at the trial.   He could sense the reluctance of his star witness as soon as he sat 

      down at the table, but he assured a very worried Bridger and Kristen that it was normal for young people to react this

      way to such a horrific crime.  He had no doubt that once Lucas was in the witness box, everything would run nice and

      smoothly and it would be all over before all of them knew it.    Lucas told him on several occasions that he doubted he

      could open up as much as the prosecutor would want in the courtroom, but Fletcher told Lucas he would be fine.

      He told him that his line of questioning would not be invasive and would be casual enough, just as though they were

      having a quiet conversation between two friends.   When Bridger asked about cross-examination from the defence's

      solicitor, Fletcher said that although he knew Jackson had a hard reputation, the lawyer would not be able to badger

      Lucas in the witness box too harshly.   The Judge would make sure that strict protocol would be adhered to during

      the entire proceedings.   

      The next time Lucas would see Bill Fletcher, was the following morning just before the trial was ready to commence.

      He warned them though that it could be a particularly long day for everybody concerned.    Bridger had asked if the

      SeaQuest crew could be there in support for Lucas.  Fletcher openly agreed that this was an excellent idea to try

      and regain the boy's diminishing confidence.   He whispered to Bridger to make sure that he and the closest members

      were sitting as close to the front of the public gallery as possible so that Lucas would have someone's familiar face

      to focus on when he began giving evidence.

      ****************************************************************************************************************************************

      By 9.00am the next morning, Lucas was sitting outside in a cold corridor of the courthouse building trying to think about

      what he was going to say.

      The majority of the senior SeaQuest crew was already seated in the courtroom so not as to distract Lucas.  The only

      people with Lucas at the moment was Nathan Bridger, Kristen Westphalen and Ben Krieg and at the moment, they

      were standing a far distance from the boy.    They were huddled together with the prosecution having a few quiet words

      of their own to Fletcher about Lucas's demeanour.   They all watched the boy for a few seconds, seated in the middle

      of a large uncomfortable pew style chair.   The chair was leaning up against a cold gray wall of the hallway and Lucas

      was seated in the middle with his knees drawn up with his chest.  His eyes were fixated on the opposite plain gray

      wall.    He looked so scared and alone at the moment.

      Lucas briefly looked at the small gathering to his right and could feel their eyes upon him.  The more he thought about

      them looking at him the more he just wanted to disappear and have the floor swallow him whole.   It finally got so that

      he could no longer stand the stares he was getting, so he stood up and muttered a few words that he was going to 

      take a short walk to clear his head and get a drink of water before they began.

      "Be sure not to be too longer Lucas" Bill Fletcher gently reminded his client but his words fell upon deaf ears as he

      watched the slouched figure of Lucas walk away down the hallway in the opposite direction.

      Lucas had ended up walking into a dead-end hallway.  There was a water fountain stuck in the corner so he killed some

      time by leaning over the tap and sipping slowly at the cold refreshing water.   Whilst he was drinking he tried to look

      about the hallway without being to obvious about it.    He could see a number of doors with names and letters painted

      onto the glass.   They all seemed to be the offices of solicitors and lawyers from the building.   He quickly shrank back

      into the shadows however when one of the door's adjacent to him opened up and two men walked outside.   From 

      where Lucas was standing, he was protected from being seen, but that didn't stop the goose-bump feeling from coming

      as he felt the cold shiver run up his spine at recognizing who the men were.

      Lucas had been introduced to Bruce Jackson's lawyer when they arrived first thing this morning as a formality.   He

      had not seen Bruce Jackson yet and probably wouldn't yet until the trial started.  But that wasn't who he saw emerging

      from the enemy camp's door at this very moment.   

      Bill Fletcher had gone to great lengths the day before when talking to Lucas and his family back on the island about

      telling him that the first person to give evidence in the witness box today would be Inspector Daniel Rowlands.  He

      would give an overview of what he saw at the scene and what the forensic evidence against Bruce Jackson was.

      He would give a description of how they had found Lucas at the scene and the statements that had been taken since

      that time.   Rowlands was supposed to be a witness for the prosecution, but right here and now the Inspector was

      coming out of the defence lawyer's office.   There was even a chuckle or two from both parties and a strong hand-shake

      at the end of things as if some sort of deal had been made.

      Lucas had been scared of being spotted, but once he realised that his hiding place was good enough to conceal his

      presence, all he saw was red.  He could feel the rage building up inside at him that the whole charade of taking evidence

      and statements since the murder had been a decoy.    Rowlands talked endlessly about needing Lucas's testimony

      to get a conviction against Jackson and sending him to jail, but it was all a cruel hoax.   All this time he had been

      in Jackson's back pocket, probably been paid for whatever information he was providing.    Lucas suddenly now knew

      the answer to the question about how Carl Lopez knew about Lucas's address the night he came through the bedroom

      window.    

      Lucas waited for the coast to be clear and then headed back towards the prosecutor and his family.    They were still

      in the same small group that they had been in when he left.  He could still see them all looking at him and trying to

      gauge his emotional state when he was approaching them.    This time however, they were all astonished when he

      walked towards them with a more forceful stride.

      "You………… in here NOW" he barked at the prosecutor as he headed into the small interview room that they had 

      occupied earlier.  Bill Fletcher followed the riled teenager but stole a look back towards his family and friends briefly 

      before going in.   He got the same unanswered questions on their faces that he had.   Bridger and the others were almost

      lost for words at the sudden change of mood for the boy. One minute he was sullen and barely spoke a word, now

      after his walk, he was now demanding things with power and confidence in his voice that was rarely seen in Lucas.

      "What's gotten into him?" Ben Krieg asked once the door to the interview room was closed.   

      "I don't know, but I hope it's not bad news" Bridger replied still trying to work out the sudden turn around in Lucas.

      Lucas and Fletcher emerged from the interview room after about twenty minutes.   They now both had the same

      determined and confident look on their faces, Fletcher's was just more controlled.   He had listened carefully to

      what the teenager had to say about Inspector Rowland's visit to the opposing camp.    Lucas told Fletcher that he

      wanted to make sure that the other camp thought they still had the upper hand in this case.   He wanted Fletcher

      to put Rowlands in the witness box as before and ask all the normal questions.  They would reveal their hand at

      the appropriate time.     

      Bridger and Ben didn't know whether to be happy or worry even more when they saw the prosecutor and Lucas.

      Now they were even more curious about what had been said, but neither Lucas or the prosecutor were letting anybody

      else know about what they were about to do.

      Lucas had left nothing to chance.  He had told Fletcher about everything, including his former knowledge about

      Carl Lopez and his father's operations.  The threats that had been made a few nights ago in his bedroom and the

      scar he had to prove it.   He told the prosecutor everything he knew about the murder.  But right now it seemed as

      though the trap were being set for bigger mice.   The trial would just be the place to spring it.  In front of everybody

      and prove to the court just how dirty Rowlands was as a cop.    Fletcher had reminded Lucas about the scathing

      cross-examination he was going to get from the defence, especially when it came out about his father's former

      association with Lopez, but Lucas said that he was prepared to bear that just to hang Rowlands.  He was just

      unsure about how his dad Bridger and the rest of the crew would handle hearing about such secrets from his past.

      "Let's get this show on the road" Lucas now said as he strolled into the court room well ahead of the others, ready

      to start the end of Bruce Jackson, Carl Lopez and Inspector Daniel Rowlands.

      Bridger and the others followed and took their seat in the pew behind the prosecutor's bar table.   Bridger gave 

      the SeaQuest some information about the change in Lucas's behaviour, but they all promised that they would be

      there to help the teenager no matter what came out in the court case.

      Shortly after their seating,   Bruce Jackson came into the courtroom along with his lawyer Eugene Small.  The

      man looked more like a weasel that a lawyer.   He had a receding hairline and dark beady little eyes with dark

      rimmed glasses.    He stole a look at the prosecution over the top of his glasses. 

      Inspector Rowlands walked into the courtroom about five minutes to 10.00am and greeted Lucas and the crew

      normally, not knowing about his little secret being found out about.  Lucas had to call upon everything he could

      muster from stopping himself of standing up and accusing the man right there and then before the trial even started.

      "Go get em kid" Rowlands said as he shook Lucas's hand and took his seat at the end of the pew with the crew.

      "That's just what I intend to do Inspector" Lucas said calmly and them proceeded to wipe his hands on his pants

      to get ride of the feeling he had.      He stole a look at Fletcher at his words and received a small smirk of approval

      in return.   Bridger and Ben could see all of these secret messages between Lucas and the prosecutor and wondered

      what the hell was going on.   Something was definitely amiss and Lucas and Fletcher seemed to be the only ones

      privy to it.

      The one noticeable absence that Lucas noted from the courtroom when it was about to start was that of Carl Lopez.

      He had expected the man to sit beside his boss Bruce Jackson and gloat secretly to Lucas as he sat in the

      witness box.   He hadn't shown up though and didn't look as though he was about to make a late entrance.

      The lawyer for Jackson had been told all about the threats made to Lucas and about Carl Lopez's absence today.

      He had been the one to insist on the man not sitting in the courtroom.  They needed to keep a low and humble

      profile today, rather than create a fan fair that would blow open their case.   Lopez wasn't totally out of the picture

      however.   He was lurking in the building and was told to remain so until the right time.   Small was also aware that

      he had a piece of information that would rock the very foundations of Lucas Wolenczak.  This was not to be told

      until the right time however.

      Everyone was now seated in the courtroom.   The defence was ready, the prosecution was prepared, the court

      reporter was seated at her table under neath the Judge's bench.   The Bailiff had just walked in and announced 

      to everybody to stand for the arrival of the judge.

      "The case of The People versus Bruce Jackson will now come to order" the large stout Bailiff said.  "All rise,

      his Honour Judge Raymond Kline presiding".   Everybody in the courtroom stood as the Judge walked in and took

      his seat at the Bench.    "You may all be seated" the Bailiff now informed them and they did so.    The Bailiff now

      handed the necessary file and paperwork to the Judge.

      Normally speaking, Lucas should not have been present at the opening of the case.   Witnesses were not supposed

      to hear the testimony of other witnesses or hear any part of the proceedings until they were called upon to give

      their own evidence.  Once they had done that, they could remain in the courtroom or do as they wished.  On this

      occasion though, a chamber application had been made to the Judge prior to the trial about the witness Lucas

      being reluctant to give any oral evidence before today.   The prosecution argued that the only other evidence was that

      of Inspector Rowlands, and because most of his was procedural and forensic evidence, it couldn't be cross-examined

      on many points anyway.   The defence team didn't have any objections to this course of action, not knowing how to

      counteract the prosecutions strong argument and therefore Lucas was allowed to be there for the start of the proceedings.

      "Okay, may I please have your appearances for the record please gentlemen" the Judge now asked in a very official,

      no nonsense voice.

      Fletcher stood up  "If it pleases the court Your Honour, my name is William Francis Fletcher and I appear for the

      prosecution in this case."  He then sat down again.

      Small stood up "My name is Eugene Ernest Small and I am the defence attorney for the accused Mr Bruce Jackson"

      he announced and then sat down again.

      "Okay gentlemen, now that we know each other, let's get the rules of this game straight before we start" the Judge

      said.  Normally he was a reserved type of person, but something about this high profile case told him that he needed

      to set the ground rules from the beginning.   "Firstly, I know that this case already has had a lot of media attention,

      but I warn you now that once I sit upon this chair, I forget everything I have read or heard except in this courtroom.

      I will not tolerate this case becoming a circus or I will terminate the public gallery and it will become a matter held

      in chambers" he warned  "Do I make myself perfectly clear?"  Both attorney's nodded their heads in agreement to the

      Judge's words.

      "Now gentlemen, we will go through the process of selecting a jury panel." the Judge informed them.   The process

      unfortunately was long and drawn out and at the end of it, two women and ten men sat in the jury chairs across from

      the prosecution in the courtroom.    

      Lucas looked at the people who had been carefully chosen for this important decision.   He couldn't help but look at

      their faces and think that they didn't want to be here.  They all probably had better things to do than sit here and 

      listen to lawyers argue with each other.

      "Mr Prosecutor, you may make you opening statement to the Jury please" Judge Kline now said. 

      Bill gave Lucas a quick wink and then stood up to face the jury panel.   Bridger couldn't think anything else but

      more secret signals that he didn't understand.   If Lucas weren't trying to look so serious, he could almost burst

      out laughing at the confusion clearly evident on the Captain's face.

      "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, you are here to decide upon listening to the statements given and the evidence

      produced, that there is sufficient enough reason to commit Mr Bruce Jackson to a Higher Court's jurisdiction to stand

      trial for the cold-blood and calculated murder of Mr John Taylor.    I am not here today to give you what the possibilities

      may have been or what could have happened that day that Mr Taylor died.   I am here to give to hard solid, eye-witness

      account that Mr Taylor's life was taken prematurely by the defendant Jackson.   It doesn't matter what the reasons are

      or the excuses about why it might have happened.  The fact remains that a man is dead and the defendant is responsible

      for that terrible crime and must stand trial to have the appropriate punishment handed down to him."    

      Lucas gave him a grin of "well done" to Fletcher as he sat down.  The first blow had been dealt, they had to be prepared

      for the returning punch now.    Fletcher had a clerk beside him ready to write down all and any notes that the prosecutor

      wanted to make about the defence's argument or questioning.

      "Members of the Jury" Small began the defence's case "the prosecution would have you believe here today that they have

      an overwhelming case by witnesses and evidence that puts my client at the scene of Mr Taylor's unfortunate death

      and they would have you believe that all of it adds up to him being responsible for the crime.   I am here today to tell

      you that the prosecution has no such evidence of my client committing such a crime.  I will even go so far as to say that

      the only evidence they have could be called flimsy at best.  And the only witness that they are relying on to prove their

      case is a witness who cannot even identify my client being at the scene on the day in question" he added and then

      gave a quick glance of "I dare you" to Lucas and the prosecution table.    Ben was about ready to jump up and punch

      the lawyer in the face already, but a firm and strong grip on him by Commander Jonathan Ford prevented him doing

      anything but say a few low unpleasant words.

      Lucas was a little more brazen with his newly found confidence.  He made sure that nobody else but his table could

      hear his remark, but as Small made his way past the table to his own, Lucas whispered "pencil neck".

      Ben had at first been shocked but then almost wanted to break out laughing at such a show of arrogance by the 

      normally withdrawn teenager.  He didn't know what that prosecutor did to bring Lucas out of his shell so much, but

      whatever is was, he was going to order it in by the crate full when they got back to SeaQuest.

      Bridger put his hands to his head at the remark and Kristen muttered something about reminding Lucas to be 

      respectful to other people when they got back home.  Like Ben and the rest of the crew however, they couldn't

      believe the cockiness that Lucas was openly displaying.  

      "Call your first witness please prosecutor" the Judge now informed the court, cutting off the smirks and grins that

      Lucas was getting from the SeaQuest crew behind him.

      "Your Honour, if it pleases you, I call Inspector Daniel Rowlands to the witness stand" Fletcher now informed the

      court.

      "This should be good" Lucas now said to nobody in a low voice.   Bridger couldn't help but wonder why the teenager

      had taken such a casual attitude to the man.  One week ago, the boy fainted in the man's very presence.  He just

      didn't get it he told himself.

      The Bailiff walked over to Rowlands  "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help

      you God" he asked.

      "I do" Rowlands replied in a voice with no emotion at all.  He kept his eyes straight ahead so as not to give his cover

      away.

      "Yeah right!" Lucas said in a huff at Rowland's promise.  

      Although Fletcher could understand the young man's sudden dislike for the police officer, he turned a gave a quick shushing 

      motion to the teenager to silence him.   Bridger again found himself wondering where Lucas was going with his sarcastic 

      attitude.  Maybe it was the only way he could deal with the fear and anxiety that had built up inside of him about having to 

      appear in court.  It was the only rational explanation that the Captain could come up with for Lucas's mood.

      (Author's notes:   The conversation from here in is between Fletcher and Rowlands with a few secret thoughts

      of Lucas in between for a while).

      "Inspector could you please state your full name, rank and station for the court please."

      "My full name is Daniel Ebenezer Rowlands, Inspector at the city police station, registered number 45762."

      "Your honour, I have a few exhibits to show the witness at this stage if you will allow.  The defence have consented

      to these being tendered."

      Judge Kline nods his head in approval.

      "Inspector the first exhibits that I show you are a number of colour photographs that relate to the actual crime scene."

      The photos are handed to Rowlands to have a look at.

      "Yes, they are the ones that I had taken of the area after we discovered Mr Taylor's body."

      Fletcher now put his brief case onto the top of the desk, prepared to unveil the next exhibit.  He had spoken to

      Lucas about it coming out and knew about how the teenager had reacted to seeing it last time.

      He pulled out a large sealed plastic bag containing the blood stained shirt that Lucas had been wearing the day of the

      murder and the one that Rowlands that had shown him back at the island.   All concerned noticed Lucas's face pale

      significantly.  He might have been trying to portray the tough skin on the outside, but this was one thing that they all

      knew stripped him of his defences.  Lucas somehow managed to keep his composure though and just swallow 

      whatever he was feeling as the garment and bag were handed to the Inspector on the stand.

      Lucas thought he saw a hint of a smirk at his reaction Rowlands but he couldn't be sure.   

      "Can you tell us what the article is Inspector?"

      "This is the shirt that Lucas Wolenczak was wearing at the scene of the crime when he was found with John

      Taylor's body."

      Lucas and the others could hear a few shocked cries from members of the jury as they could plainly see the

      blood spattered fabric.   Once again, Lucas felt like shrinking into his seat as he felt all eyes upon him.   

      The last article to be handed up as an exhibit was a gun in a sealed bag.

      "Can you please tell us about the significance of this weapon please Inspector?"

      "This is the weapon believed to have been used in the commission of this crime.   The bullets from the crime scene

      and John Taylor's body have been forensically matched to the barrel of that weapon.   It is the gun used to murder

      Mr Taylor." Inspector Rowlands explained.  

      "Now Inspector, can you tell us please, has the cause of death for Mr Taylor been determined?"

      "Yes it has, Mr Taylor died as a result of two gun shots to the chest area, one of them striking his heart and one

      to his left lung.   The one to the heart didn't go right through and that is why it is assumed that Mr Taylor lived for

      a short time after being shot"

      "Can you accurately tell the court a time of death for Mr Taylor?"

      "No, but an autopsy put the time of death somewhere between 2.00pm and 6.00pm on the 25th September of this

      year."

      "There is no way of being more specific with the time?"

      "No, I'm afraid not"

      "What led your investigation to the conclusion that Mr Jackson was responsible for the murder?"

      "Objection to that question your Honour" Small jumped up and argued.  "It hasn't been the determination of

      this court yet that Mr Jackson was responsible for the murder."

      "I'll rephrase the question your Honour" Fletcher replied before the Judge had a chance to rule on the objection.

      "Inspector what information did you receive as to possible suspects in this matter?"

      "On the 29th September of this year, I attended the residence of one Lucas Wolenczak for the purposes of taking

      a statement.  Mr Wolenczak was the one to identify Mr Jackson at the scene of the crime.  From this information

      formal charges were laid against Mr Bruce Jackson for murder."

      Lucas could scarcely sit still on the seat.  He squirmed and moved about due to his anger about having to go 

      through the fake process like they were.  He wanted to nail Rowlands and do it now and the fact that he had to 

      wait until the right time didn't sit well with him.

      "I have no further questions for this witness your Honour" Fletcher said as he noticed his star witness getting

      fed up with the process.  He knew that Lucas didn't want to drag it out any longer than necessary.

      Rowlands and Jackson's legal team all looked at Fletcher a little dubiously at this statement.  They all expected

      the police officer to be in the witness box for quite some time.  The didn't know why the prosecutor was happy

      with just the bare minimum facts of the investigation.  They couldn't stop him from finishing however.

      "No questions for this witness your honour" Small said to the court.  He didn't want to dwell on Rowlands testimony

      too much for fear of the man making a mistake and perjuring himself and blowing their case at the same time.

      Rowlands got up from the witness chair and walked to the back of the courtroom to avoid giving his allegiance away.

      "Call your next witness Mr Fletcher" the Judge said wondering why the prosecution was cutting short their testimony.

      This was clearly going to be a different case from most he had presided over.

      "Your Honour, I call Lucas Wolenczak to the stand for the prosecution" he announced and gave a look to Lucas that

      told the teenager that everything was going to be okay.

      Bridger was already worried about how this trial was going, but now with Lucas getting on the witness stand, his

      stomach was already twisting into knots.  Kristen was giving reassurance to some of the more emotional crew members,

      but inside she was very apprehensive about the whole affair.  She had brought her medical bag to court just in case

      Lucas didn't handle the questioning well.

      "Lucas, may I call you Lucas" the Judge asked before the swearing in began.  "I know this may be difficult for you.

      Please know that if you need to stop for any reason or need a break, just let me know okay.  You don't have to be

      afraid and if you need someone to sit with you during this, that can be arranged as well" the Judge said.  This was

      the speech he often gave to younger witnesses, especially children and people of Lucas's age.  He also was aware

      that the young man had recently seen a very traumatic event and may break down during some of the questioning.

      Lucas just nodded his agreement to using his first name.   He hoped he would be able to hold it together enough

      not to have someone sit with him.   He knew that Dad and the other would be there for him.    He just hoped this

      could all be over real soon.

      "Could you state your full and correct name for the court please" Fletcher asked going through the same motions

      "Lucas Wolenczak" 

      "And how old are you Lucas?"

      "18"

      "Now, I want you to tell the court in your own words about the events of the 25th September this year.  Take your

      time, don't rush and most of all, don't leave anything out."

      Lucas took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves first.  He had this idea about being tough when he walked

      in here, but most of that seemed to disappear now that he was facing them all on his own now.

      "Where do you want me to start?"

      "Right at the beginning Lucas, start from the earliest point you remember for that day"

      "Okay here goes.   It was about 12.00 when I turned up outside the café to meet my friend Ben" he began

      "You mean 12.00 midnight or midday? And who is Ben?" Fletcher asked before Lucas got to much further into

      his story.

      "Oh sorry, I meant 12.00 as in lunch time.  And Ben is Benjamin Krieg my friend from the SeaQuest." Lucas replied

      giving Ben a "sorry" for having to give his full name and include him all of this mess.

      Ben smiled back at the kid genuinely letting him know it was okay.  

      "Please continue Lucas"

      "Like I said I was supposed to meet my friend Ben at the café but when he didn't turn up after two hours, I started to

      walk down the street.  I thought I might be able to find a phone and telephone someone to come and get me.   Just

      as I started walking, it started raining.  It started raining very heavily so I started to look about for somewhere to stop

      to get out of the rain.  It was cold and I didn't want to end up with the flu from walking in the rain" he said and looked

      towards Bridger to see how he was doing.  Nathan give him a smile that said he was doing just fine.

      "After a while walking, I spotted an abandoned warehouse.   There was some tin sheeting missing from one side so

      I was able to get in through the opening.    When I got inside I had to wait until my eyes adjusted to the darkness

      before I could see where I was.   When it got better to see, I saw lots of crates piled up to the ceiling.   Rows and

      rows of crates.  there were a few single ones too so I sat on top of one and decided to try and wait out the rain.

      Don't know how long it was, but I guess I fell asleep at some stage.   The thing that woke me up was the sound

      of the roller door on the other side of the building opening up.    I was scared somebody would find me so I hid

      behind a row of the crates so that I was out of view.  That's when I heard an argument between Bruce Jackson

      and John Taylor.  At first I didn't know who it was, I just heard voices.  But as I listened a bit longer, I recognized

      the voice to be Bruce Jackson.

      Mr Small could be seen making copious amounts of notes to this piece of information.   Bridger and everybody else

      wanted to know how Lucas knew Bruce Jackson.  Jackson was a known small time crime boss.  How did Lucas

      know such a person only by the sound of his voice.

      "I could hear them arguing for quite a while.   There were other voices in the background as well, but I couldn't tell

      you who they were for sure.    Then the argument seemed to escalate and get a little more physical with pushing

      and shoving going on between Jackson's sidekicks and Mr Taylor.    All of a sudden Jackson tell two men to take

      Taylor by an arm each.     By this time I had peeked out a little to try and see what was going on without being seen.

      I heard Taylor tell them that they couldn't operate without them that he would go to the police and tell them about all

      the stuff Jackson had been doing lately.  That's when I saw Jackson grab a hold of Taylor's shirt and tell him that they

      didn't need a two bit sleaze bag like him telling him what to do.   He pushed Taylor a little while the other two men were

      still holding onto him and then I saw Jackson take a gun from Carl Lopez and shoot him twice in the chest."  Lucas

      was now looking down at his feet and his voice had lost some of it's volume with his very vivid recollection of the murder.

      Bridger and the rest of the crew were just as stunned and shocked as the prosecutor.  This was the first time that any

      of them, including Fletcher had a full, no details left out account of what Lucas saw.  This is what Bridger had tried to

      get to tell him without success.   He didn't know what to say.  He couldn't imagine the range of emotions that Lucas

      must have felt all this time since then trying to hold in such a deep dark secret.    Even the Judge was surprised by

      the description that Lucas was giving to the court.    Small and his men tried their best to stay unchanged by what

      they heard.   They couldn't let the emotional story of a eighteen year old boy get the better of them all and blow their

      entire case.

      When it seemed okay to go on Fletcher now asked as he tried to gauge Lucas's condition "What happened next

      Lucas?" he asked gently knowing that this was a harrowing thing to put the boy through.  He now knew why up until

      today that the boy had been so reluctant to retell the story.   It sent shivers up your spine to think that such things

      happened out in this world today.

      "I don't know how long it was, but I just stayed hidden behind the boxes until Lopez and Jackson and their men left.

      After I thought the coast was clear, I went over to Mr Taylor and tried to see if I could do anything.  I didn't know 

      what I was going to do, but I just couldn't leave him there like that.   When I got closer I could see the pool of blood

      that was underneath Mr Taylor.  The guy looked like he was dead.  So much blood.  There was so much blood.

      I was trying to figure out what to do next when I saw his hand twitch.  That's the first time that I realised that he wasn't

      dead.  I tried to ask him what I should do.  I know I could have gone and got the police and ambulance and that, but

      I wasn't thinking very straight and everything was jumbled up in my head.  He told me that he wanted me to stay with

      him.  I told him I should go and get him help, but he said that he just wanted me to stay.  That's when me and him

      started to talk.   At first I did it to try and take his mind of the pain, but then I found myself telling him about me when

      he asked and he told me all about his own life and family.   I could see that the pain was getting worse.  There was

      more blood and now I was sitting on the floor with his head in my lap as he spoke to me.

      "He must have thought by that time that he was dying because he was starting to get all repentant on me.  He started

      to tell me about all the mistakes he had made in his life and trying to warn me about making similar ones.   The last

      words he spoke to me before he died were_:    "Don't turn your back on him Lucas.   He'll get you too just like he got me. _

_Watch yourself, your not safe from him anymore."  By the time Lucas finished this statement, there was barely a dry_

eye in the public gallery and some of the jury members were discreetly trying to wipe away moisture from their own

eyes without being seen.

There was silence for a number of minutes after this so Fletcher decided to break the ice "Is there anything else

Lucas that you want to add?", not knowing how to regain the boy's confidence after such a story.

"Not really, the next thing I remember is the light of a torch shining in my eyes and me telling them that I didn't

do it.  They told me to come with them and I was put into the back of a police vehicle and driven back to the 

police station until my Dad came to collect me."  he said.  He was unable to hide the shimmering tears he was 

now shedding after his description of what happened.  He hadn't left anything out, like he promised Fletcher he

wouldn't do.  He wanted to see Lopez, Jackson and Rowlands put away for the injustice that he felt, but O God

was it difficult to relive those last few hours in that factory.   He didn't know whether he would ever forget that day.

"Your Honour may I suggest a quick recess at this stage to allow Mr Wolenczak to regain his composure?" 

Fletcher now enquired.

"I think that's an excellent idea Mr Fletcher" Judge Kline said.  He was only too happy to oblige after hearing such

heart felt emotion from Lucas.    They were all quickly stopped from leaving the room though when Lucas turned

around and spoke frankly to the Judge in private.

"Your honour, please believe me when I thank you for your compassion" Lucas began  "But to tell you the honest

truth,  I don't know how much longer I sit here and hold it together.   Please let us continue until the whole thing

is finished because I can only do this once."

"I admire your courage Lucas, are you sure you will be okay?" he asked with genuine concern.   Lucas answered

by nodding his head and giving a half smile that he didn't really feel.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there has been a change of plan" the Judge said and everyone whispered their displeasure.

They all wanted the opportunity to get take in what they just heard.   "Mr Wolenczak has assured me that everything

is fine and he wants to keep going rather than stop in the middle.  I must admit that I admire his courage and will

allow his request.  Please let us continue and we can have a break in due course."  

Fletcher gave a look to Lucas that said he couldn't express words for what Lucas had just told the court.   He just

hoped that Small's cross-examination wouldn't be rough on the kid.  Kristen on the other hand was having trouble

coping with what Lucas had experienced as was the rest of the SeaQuest.  Bridger was also upset by the story

he had heard, but he was more concerned about Lucas's mental and physical state after such a description.  He

kept his eyes on the boy the whole time and had no intentions of allowing the boy to be left alone in his sorrow 

for even a second.  He just wanted to hug Lucas and tell him that he loved him.    Like Lucas had shouted in his

bedroom that day, how could he tell Lucas that everything was going to be alright after hearing this?

Small knew that he was going to go in heavy handed after such a display.  He saw that everybody else was in the

room.  It was time to get the kid cranky again.  If he let the boy keep going like he had, the jury would be putty in

the prosecution's hand and their case would be lost.   Time to switch the advantage back to his own side and the

way to do that was to get the kid off-guard from the first moment.

He stood up and made sure that he took his time adjusting his coat and glasses before he began the cross-examination.

He knew that the kid had already slipped up a few times during his speech when he already by divulging Carl Lopez's

name.  It was time to start probing and find out just how much the boy could endure before he cracked all together.

"Mr Wolenczak" Small began already knowing that the eyes of the SeaQuest crew and prosecution table were boring

into his back like read hot pokers.  He was already the enemy and he was about to make sure that they knew it.

"That's a very interesting story you just gave" he started.  "And that's right isn't it Mr Wolenczak, it's just a story.

A picture in your head that came from what other people told you.  A fantasy if you like.  It can't possibly have happened

the way you said it did, could it?" 

Bridger had to help Commander Ford keep a tight rein on Ben again because the Lieutenant was seeing red and if

they let he go for a second, Ben would be all over the defence attorney before anybody could stop him.   There was

      no question at all about where Ben's loyalties laid.

      "No it's not a fantasy.  That's what actually happened" Lucas said a little indignant that somebody would say he made

      up a story like that.  Could anybody have made a story up like that?  He and a few others in the court room doubted it.

      Small could already see that his angle of questioning was heading in the right direction.  He could see Lucas already

      putting up the defences and starting to get riled.   He would have to probe just that little bit more.

      "Well let's break it down into smaller chunks we can all chew shall we?" Small said as he began the slow and gradual

      process of picking Lucas story to pieces.

      "You said in your evidence in chief that it was 12 midday am I correct?" he asked.  Lucas nodded his head in a 'yes'

      answer.  "You will have to say yes or no Mr Wolenczak as these proceedings are being recorded" Small reminded 

      the teenager.

      "Yes I said it was 12 midday."

      "Were you wearing a watch that day when you left your home Mr Wolenczak?" Small asked. 

      "No" came the reply.

      "Then how can you be sure that it was 12 midday?" 

      "I can't be" Lucas whispered in a barely audible voice realising that his information had no real basis to it.

      He was now looking intently at the floor, embarrassed to face the people in the court room with his answers.

      "You'll have to speak up Lucas" Small said in a loud voice.

      Lucas now looked up suddenly with anger and hurt in his eyes "I said I couldn't be right about that" he repeated

      emphasising the volume in which he spoke.

      "Okay we've already found one hole in your story, you can't be certain about the actual time where you say you

      were.  Let's see how many more we can find.  Now you say that it was raining outside? Small asked.

      "Yes" 

      "Was it a sudden thunderstorm or a light morning shower" Small asked.  He didn't know how long the Judge would

      allow him to keep asking such trivial questions without getting into the meat of the argument.

      Fletcher was right on the ball however "Objection your Honour" he said as he sprang from his chair.   "I don't see

      where this line of questioning is leading.  The witness has already given evidence about the weather outside on the

      day in question."   The SeaQuest crew could praise Fletcher and be glad that somebody was coming to Lucas's

      rescue.

      "I agree counsellor" the Judge now said "Mr Small, please skip the no-need-to-know questions.  We have a long

      day in front of us already."

      "Yes your Honour" Small said.

      "Mr Wolenczak, let's go to where you stepped into the abandoned building as you say.   What was the lighting like

      inside the building?"

      "Like I said, it was dark because my eyes had to adjust to the darkness when I first walked in."

      "Okay, when you finally could see enough inside, could you see clearly as in like in this courtroom here today or

      was it more like just shadows and outlines of objects?"

      "More like just shadows and outlines.  It was really dark in there" Lucas had to admit.

      "Now you say your recognized some of the men by their voices and other's when you saw them" Small asked.

      "Yes, that's what I said."

      "Now that's one of the areas I want to spend a fair amount of time on here today Lucas.  You see I am curious

      about how you could suddenly walk into an abandoned building like you say you did.  Five men walk into the 

      place and you instantly recognize two of them off the top of your head." Small now said as he prepared to ask

      the next stream of unending questions.

      Lucas knew now that this was where some of the deep dark secrets from his past came out.  Things that he

      had hidden for a long time from his family and friends.  He didn't relish the idea of it all coming out here today

      in a court of law, but it didn't look at though Jackson's defence lawyer was going give him any other option.

      "Let's go right to the very crux of my questioning first shall we Mr Wolenczak.  How long have you known my

      client Mr Bruce Jackson.  Remember you are under oath."

      Lucas's eyes flickered with anger again.  As if he needed to be reminded that he was on a witness stand.  He 

      was determined not to let the lawyer get to him though.  He intended to answer any and all questions truthfully

      as possible, no matter what the consequences from Lopez or anybody else.

      "Since I was about ten years old or so" Lucas said straight.

      Suddenly there were whispers and comments coming from the jury panel and the public gallery.  Bridger's mind

      was a whirl with questions.  Up until just now, he didn't know that Lucas knew the accused murderer at all.  Now

      all of a sudden Lucas was telling the court that he had known the man for a number of years.

      "So that would be about 8 years or so, is that correct?" Small now continued.

      "Yes, that's about right."

      "How did you first come to meet Mr Jackson?'

      Lucas knew that this answer was going to hit his family and friends hard.  "He was a business associate of my

      father." he said clearly and concisely.

      Bridger wasn't sure he could handle any more truthful answers today.  The last two questions had turned his worldly

      knowledge of his son upside down in a matter of minutes.

      "Your father?" the comment came in the form of a question, wanting Lucas to expand on the answer some more.

      "My father is Lawrence Wolenczak.  Some time ago before he had anything to do with World Power or the U.E.O.

      he was heavily into business overseas.   He got so greedy that it became obvious that he could no longer sustain 

      his business dealings without the help of some generous financial backers.   One day that financial backer came

      into my father's house in the name of Bruce Jackson and his associate Carl Lopez.   I would watch them make

      their plans from a secret passageway in my father's office.  It got to the stage were my father thought he was 

      controlling things, but in actual fact it was Jackson and Lopez."

      "Seems you have done your fair share of hiding in various places during your life Mr Wolenczak" came the snide

      remark.

      "More than you'll ever know about" came the quick reply and Lucas remembered back to the days when he lived

      in hell in his very own house.  Somewhere back in their minds, the members of the jury panel could remember 

      seeing stories in the media about a Lawrence Wolenczak who had been sent to prison for the abuse of his son

      and then escaped.  Nobody knew what happened to him after a while, but it appeared that the son of this person

      was now in the witness box.

      Bridger and the SeaQuest knew what Lucas was talking about and also knew how difficult it was for Lucas to be

      talking as openly as he was about his father.  

      Small now grabbed a document off his table and now walked closer to the witness box.  "Mr Wolenczak, that's

      all very interesting, but please enlighten me why none of the information you have just given the court under oath

      is included in your statement taken with Inspector Rowlands?"

      Lucas swallowed hard as he now knew that it was going to come out that he had not given the full story in his

      statement to the police officer.  "I guess I forgot to put that in"

      "Forgot Mr Wolenczak, or deliberately tried to misinform the court as to your true association and prior knowledge

      of my client" Small now accused the teenager.

      "Didn't want to put it in" came the curt reply from Lucas.  The teenager was sick of being bullied by this balding

      little man with glasses.  He just wanted to end all of this now.

      "Didn't want to, Why?"

      "Because I was scared" Lucas said a little crankily.  He was annoyed that his true feelings were having to be put

      to the test in front of everybody.

      "Scared of what?" Small kept up the barrage, wanting the boy to crack.

      "Scared of Jackson and Lopez.  They have been making threats ever since it happened" Lucas said and then looked

      to Bridger and Ben as soon as he said the words.  His eyes apologized for not having told them sooner.

      Bridger and Ben were inwardly kicking themselves for not seeing any of the signs that Lucas had been threatened.

      Where?  When?  How? were the question they now wanted to know from Lucas.

      "Threats Mr Wolenczak.   Please continue this most interesting of conversations" Small said knowing that the boy

      was about to tell all.

      "The first time was one day when my friend Ben and I went to the Mall on the mainland" Lucas started  "I was sitting

      at one of the coffee tables waiting for Ben to bring back our food.  I looked over and saw Bill Stubbings sitting at one

      of the tables across from me.  He wasn't doing anything, but he kept staring at me.    Finally I got up from the table

      and started to head for the door.   Stubbings was gone but his friend was trying to hide behind a magazine from one

      of the shops along the aisle."

      Ben almost groaned out loud as the missing pieces to the teenager's strange behaviour started to fall into place.

      He kicked himself mentally again for not being able to protect the boy from such thugs.   He tried not to think about

      what might have happened if these men had actually caught up with Lucas.

      "Any other occasions?" Small asked in a tone that said he didn't believe the first story.  He had known all about the

      tailings to the Mall and the attack in the bedroom though.

      "The last time was about three days ago at night.  Lopez, Stubbings and another fellow by the name of Abbott broke

      into my room and threatened me with a knife" Lucas said once again looking at Bridger afterwards and trying to say

      he was sorry about not telling them.   Bridger somehow knew there was a lot more that he and Kristen needed to

      learn about the secretive of people.  He shuddered to think about what have happened to Lucas if the threats were

      meant to be more persuasive.  Lucas could have been seriously injured or even taken away from the house and they

      would have not even had a clue as to who had been responsible.

      "What did they do when they broke in?" Small asked in an uninterested tone as he shuffled some more papers in his

      hands.

      "Told me about what would happen if I spoke to anybody about what I had seen that day." Lucas replied  "They covered

      my mouth with a hand to silence me and threatened to shoot anybody that walked through the door if they heard me

      yelling."

      "So they kept you quiet, what did supposedly do next Mr Wolenczak?"  Small asked.

      "Lopez pulled a knife from his boot and knelt on my chest so that I couldn't escape.   Then he drew two letters into

      my chest with the blade of the knife." Lucas was barely holding it together by this stage but wanted desperately to

      get it all out before it drove him insane.

      "Two letters,  are you able to say which two?" Small enquired.

      The letters "C" and "H" meant to stand for his initials.  Told me that I needed his own personalised tattoo to help

      me remember what would happen if I told anybody" Lucas said and involuntarily put his hand to the area of his

      chest where the nicks were made.

      Kristen now told Bridger about finding the torn shirt but didn't think anything about it at the time.  Bridger told her

      that obviously there was a lot that all of them didn't know about.

      "Now despite all of these alleged threats and injuries that were made to you Mr Wolenczak.  You come here today,

      ready to give evidence on oath in open court about your involvement in the whole affair?" Small said trying to draw

      the boy out just a little more.

      "I told myself that I didn't want to be considered part of Jackson's payroll" Lucas replied and then looked intently

      at the lawyer himself and then directly back at Rowlands, letting the man know discreetly that he knew about what

      had been going on.  Rowlands looked back without even blinking but secretly was now panicking that the kid knew

      more than he should.

      Small ignored the comment in relation to himself but set about delivering the final blow to this young man's testimony.

      "Your Honour," he know addressed the Judge.  "In lieu of some of this information given only a few minutes ago, my

      client makes application to have these proceedings stayed for a period of a few weeks." he said with confidence.

      Fletcher was on his feet immediately, perplexed and wondering just where this application had come from.  He had no

      personal  knowledge about anything that would prevent the trial finishing today as indicated.   

      Lucas was confused as well and looked back at Fletcher for an answer.

      "Very well Mr Small, let's hear your application" Judge Kline said a little interested himself in the sudden change of

      course in the trial.

      "Your Honour, Mr Wolenczak has just given testimony about his father a Mr Lawrence Wolenczak and his personal

      knowledge of his son having met Mr Jackson and his associates before the night of Mr Taylor's death.    Up until

      very recently Mr Wolenczak Senior has been in a coma due to a motor vehicle accident in hospital.   

      Lucas could feel the colour drain from his face and the hairs on the back of his neck raise.  He was looking back

      desperately between Bridger and Fletcher to tell him what the hell was going on.   He didn't like where this was

      heading at all.  All of a sudden, there was way too much talk about his father in the present tense.  He had told

      himself that he was now free of his father's control and he would never bother him again.  What was all of this

      leading to?

      Bridger could see the anxiousness in Lucas's eyes and expressions at the mention of his father's name.  He to

      had a foreboding feeling that he couldn't quite put his finger on at the moment.

      "I have information and can have documentation in the form of medical certificates if you please that state Mr Lawrence 

      Wolenczak had awoken from his coma and could be called by the defence to corroborate this young man's account

      of events."  Small was finished with his application, but didn't need to hear the outcome.  He could clearly see that his

      little bombshell had the desired effect on the youth.

      Lucas could no longer hear anybody else in the courtroom.  All of a sudden the room seemed incredibly crowded and

      he felt like he was suffocating.  He couldn't breath and he started taking gasping breaths just to feed his starving lungs

      of oxygen.  His legs had turned to jelly and he knew that if he stood, they wouldn't hold his weight even for a second.

      "He can't be………. he can't be awake" was the words he kept repeating.  After what had happened  with Sanderson

      and his father, they had told him that there was no way his father could come out of his coma.  They told him that

      his father would never reawaken.  The man had been hooked up to machines that made him breath and eat.  He saw

      those machines.  It was the machines that were keeping him alive.  Inside the real Lawrence Wolenczak was dead.

      He just had to be right.  He couldn't face that all again………… he just couldn't.

      Bridger could see the distress that Lucas was now in.  He suddenly ignored all court protocol and behaviour and 

      now approached the witness box and knelt in front of the shaking and trembling teenager.   He spoke a few soft

      words of comfort but Lucas didn't seem to hear them.  He just kept repeating the same words over and over again

      that his father's couldn't be awake like they said he was.   Bridger knew more than anybody that Lucas could not

      handle it if it were indeed true.  They had all come to the belief that Lawrence would never bother the youth again.

      It just couldn't be true.

      "Your Honour, I think we need to take that break now, if you don't mind" Fletcher said as he saw Bridger's attempts

      to bring Lucas out of his almost comatose like trance.  There was nothing that he could do legally about Small's

      little comment.  He knew that they had used the one weapon in their arsenal that would shatter the boy's confidence.

      "I agree Mr Fletcher. This court will have recess for…………. as long as is necessary" he added as he glanced down

      and looked at Lucas with concern of his own.   He had heard in his own circles about what tortures and pain this boy

      had allegedly undergone at the hands of his father.  He doubted the boy would be able to put more than two words

      together for the rest of the day.   

      The judge struck his gavel on the bench and exited to his own chambers for some deep and meaningful thought about

      this whole case.

      Small and his client left the courtroom building as did everybody in the jury and public gallery that weren't directly

      associated with Lucas.  The only people left in the room now were Fletcher, Bridger, Kristen and the Senior Crew

      and Lucas himself.  The boy hadn't moved and seemed to be consumed by his own fear and terror that his father

      was again able to reek havoc on his life.

      AUTHOR's NOTES:

      THE END FOR NOW……………… HEHEHEH – Left it in a good spot don't you think – now for those who haven't

      read my earlier stories – you will have to go back and read the trilogy called "Hauntings" that I wrote concerning how

      Lawrence came to be in a coma.

      The part about Lawrence waking up really doesn't have much affect on this story but I thought it was the perfect place

      to bring him back.  You see I need him for the next story – not a sequel – but whole new one that involves Lawrence

      coming out of his coma (you will have to wait for further details)

      Ronica – your question at the end of Hauntings was "Is Lawrence going to wake up?" – well there's your answer girl.

      Most of the information concerning courtroom practice comes from first-hand experience because I am a court recorder

      and see such cases on a daily basis.   This story is based mostly on the Australian system though.

      Hope you enjoyed the part that I wrote – be finished this one in about one or two posts.

      JULES


	8. CHAPTER 8

**SOLITARY WITNESS**

Lucas had gone into the men's room down the corridor to try and compose himself. A million thoughts were racing through his mind at the moment and none of the made sense. Least of all the part about his father coming out of his coma. He just couldn't bear the thought of having to wage that battle again. A battle he had fought for years and then had come to the belief that it had ended. Now they were telling him that the man he feared more than anybody else on this planet was alive and well.

The water had been running in the sink for over ten minutes now as he turned the tap off and started back towards the waiting court room. With all the images and questions going in his head, he failed to notice that he had gained a shadow since leaving the court room.

Carl Lopez had strict instructions that whatever was to happen today was supposed to be discreet and secretive. He had waited as he was told in Small's office while the court proceedings were taking place. Everything was prepared and ready. He just had to wait for the opportune moment. That moment came about ten minutes ago when the intended target was spotted leaving the courtroom without an escort. Lopez couldn't have asked for anything better. With the young man all alone he was fair game.

Lopez had mistimed his grab though. Lucas had just turned the door handle and opened the door slightly for all the court room spectators to see, when everybody inside was shocked and surprised to see the boy suddenly yanked back by an unseen hand.

Lucas had uttered a brief squeal of surprise, but that was quickly cut off by Lopez's hand being clamped tightly over his mouth. Lopez was still kicking himself that he had missed taking the kid with being noticed. Now the whole God Damned courtroom was watching. He couldn't back out now though as he held the kid in front of him as a shield. He intended to drag the kid, kicking and screaming all the way if necessary from the building into a waiting van, ready to take him to a predeterminate destination.

The SeaQuest crew, headed by Bridger and Ben were immediately on their feet when they saw Lucas grabbed from behind at the doorway. They were even more surprised and angered when they reached the corridor and saw the young man being man-handled and dragged by two men towards the front doors of the building.

Lucas was trying to scream something to Bridger through the hand over his mouth but was suddenly silenced by a gun being pummelled into his unprotected stomach. He almost doubled over but was prevented from hitting the floor heavily by his two assailants.

Bridger and Ben took a step closer towards to two men but then suddenly stopped when Lopez shifted the gun's position and held it at Lucas's temple in a threatening manner.

"Go Ahead by all means gentlemen if you want to see his brains all over this floor" Lopez said menacingly. 

By now there were a number of other people in the corridor including court house security guards. Nobody could do anything though to rescue the boy while his life was held in such danger. 

"LUCAS" Bridger yelled he saw Lopez now ram the butt of the gun into Lucas's temple, rendering him unconscious. Abbott's caught the limp boy and hoisted him over shoulder before making his exit towards the waiting, black van. Lopez kept everybody else at bay with his gun while they secured their kidnap victim in the van.

Lopez was now seen to jump into the van and the vehicle take off at high speed to an unknown destination with a very vulnerable and unconscious Lucas inside.................

      *********

Back inside the court house building, the atmosphere was pandemonium.  Security guards were running every which way, trying to figure out how someone could get into the building without a security pass and then kidnap an eighteen young man who was supposed to be giving evidence at a trial.

The SeaQuest crew had been assembled at Bridger's request in the courtroom while they tried to get as much information from Fletcher as possible about Jackson and his operation.   With his case now blown wide open with Lopez's open-handed tactics and inability to stop his own greater ego, Jackson's trial was declared a mistrial by the Judge as soon as he heard the news about Lucas being kidnapped at gun point and Jackson's known association with the kidnappers.

The Judge said that there was enough strong evidence to allow Jackson to be indicted for the charge of Murder.   Jackson was taken back into secure custody and the courtroom was now being used as an intelligence room between a number of local police and other various authorities as they tried to figure out where Lopez would take his young hostage.  

Bridger was almost at his wits end as he paced aimlessly up and down the room trying to think of a way to rescue    Lucas.  He knew that they couldn't afford to fool around with a madman like Lopez.   From the testimony he had heard from Lucas about his previous association with Lawrence Wolenczak and the description of the home invasion he was involved with in Bridger's own home a few nights ago, Lopez would hurt Lucas just to secure his own       freedom from prosecution.

Ben was worse waiting than Bridger and suddenly could no longer control the anger and frustration that had been steadily building up inside him since the trial began.  

"Why are we just standing here doing nothing?" Ben now shouted across the room in frustration.  "Lucas is out there, hurt and alone and we're all just sitting around having a nice little chat while those thugs are doing God knows what to him.  We have to go and find him NOW" he said at the end with emphasis.

"I believe your right Mr Krieg" Bridger now announced.   He too was getting fed up with the apparent no-action tactics that were being taken to find Lucas.  Up until now he just hadn't had the guts to say it out loud like Krieg.   Now the Lieutenant had stated the obvious though, he was ready to back his young counterpart 100%.  They had to find Lucas before it was too late.  The longer they left things, the colder the trail would become to find him.

Krieg was a little taken back that the Captain came out and supported him so openly.  He knew that it wasn't that    the Captain didn't care. On the contrary, Bridger cared more about Lucas's safety than anybody, but he had the sense to hold his personal feelings inside when it came to dealing with the "brass" as Krieg put it.  Krieg was known for not being able to talk to those sought of people on their own level.  

"Where do we start looking Captain?" Ford now stepped in and asked, hoping that if the SeaQuest team come together, they surely would be able to come up with a more productive plan for finding the missing crew member.

"I think we should let Mr Fletcher tell us the answer to that Commander" Bridger answered as all eyes suddenly focused on the prosecutor. 

Fletcher felt the looks too and knew that these people were desperate to find the young man. "I have two addresses for you to start looking" he announced hoping that his information would be enough to help find Lucas.  "The first is Jackson's own residence.  Maybe they took Lucas to Jackson's mansion, hoping to use it as some sort of fortress.   The other one is a little more stranger.  It's the name of a boat from the mariner.  It is registered in the name of Carl Lopez.  That's the only two places I know that the two of them have any solid connections with."

"Which one do you think Captain?" Ford now asked as he tried to figure out what the kidnappers were more likely to do.

"Which is the closest Mr Fletcher?" Bridger now asked the prosecutor, trying to use logic more so than try and work out what the kidnappers might be thinking.

"The boat at the mariner Captain" Fletcher replied.  "Jackson's house is a little further out, about an hour's drive from here."

"Good, Commander Ford assemble the senior crew together and ready a transport.  We will get to the mariner first and if that fails, we will already be half way to Jackson's house.  Make sure you rustle up some firearms as well.  I don't think these men are ready to play games and I don't want to leave anything to chance." Bridger said as he tried to work out his rescue plan in his head.

Within twenty minutes, Ford had assembled the senior crew from the SeaQuest.  It wasn't a hard ask for the members either, apart from each of them knowing each other and being able to work in a team situation.  All of them cared very much for Lucas and weren't about to see the young man hurt by anybody.  

"Ready Captain" Ford announced and Ben and Kristen joined the others in the U.E.O. transport headed for the mariner.

"Let's go Commander" came the cold hard reply.  These men had taken something away from Bridger that meant everything to him and he wasn't about to pussy foot around.  He meant to get Lucas back and soon, with force if necessary and he aimed to see the men responsible pay for their deeds.

******************

By the time Bridger and his rescue party were assembling themselves in the U.E.O. transport, the unmarked van was pulling up outside Jackson's mansion.    Lopez and his accomplice Abbott were quickly outside the vehicle and pulling the sliding door open to reveal their hostage.

Lucas was semi-conscious and though he could see the men reaching towards him and pulling him out roughly.  He couldn't have stopped them even if he wanted too.  His mouth was dry from having nothing to drink and his head throbbed mercilessly from the blow he had received from the gun.   He felt himself being taken from the van to the inside of the house.  It seemed as though they walked down an endless corridor before he found

himself flung into a wooden framed chair in a very large room.   

Before he could stand up though, the men left and locked the door behind them.  Lucas just sat in the chair 

trying to think straight through the pounding headache.   He didn't have any idea of where he was.

He didn't have long to ponder anything such as escape though as Lopez and his henchmen now filed into the room and stood in front of the teenager seated on the chair.

Lopez stood there for a few minutes just looking at Lucas, not saying anything.  Lucas didn't know what was worse, knowing the beating that was about to happen or waiting for it to begin.  It was almost like he was back at home with his father waiting for his daily punishment.

"You just couldn't keep your mouth shut could you, you little bastard" Lopez now said as he had the two henchman now walk over to the chair and stand on either side of Lucas.  The two men now pulled him up by his shirt collar and held him in front of Lopez with his arms securely held behind his back.  He didn't have a       chance to fight back even if he wanted to.

"Your just a two bit hood trying to act like the big man." Lucas said and then immediately felt the stinging blow to his stomach for his outburst.

Now Lucas looked up at Lopez from his doubled over position, blond hair hanging in his eyes as he looked up at the angry face before him.  He knew what was about to happen, he couldn't even prevent it so he   decided to get a few cheap shots in himself, even if they were only words.  "Truth is Lopez, your just Jackson's flunky and you will always be." Lucas said with a cheeky smirk.  He was rewarded again with two more punches to his stomach.  He tried to regain his breath.

The two men now let go of Lucas as Lopez nodded his head to do so.  Lucas put his hands protectively to his stomach

and was about to try and defend himself when Lopez's assault increased in intensity.  He felt the punches and blows raining

down on every part of his body.  He then felt a kick to his knee which forced it to give way and spill him to the floor.

With his victim now laying on the floor, trying in vain to defend himself, Lopez only saw this as an opportunity to increase

the pain factor.  He know brought his leg back and then deliberately aimed to Lucas's left thigh.  The boot sank into

Lucas's soft muscle and tissue.  He couldn't hold back the agonizing scream that escaped his lips as the boot made the

contact.  The pain was shooting up and down his leg, making standing up to increase his chances of defending himself

now an impossibility.  He make two weal attempts to stand on his feet, but leg just caved in underneath him both times,

spilling him back to the floor and allowing Lopez to continue the assault.

Lucas made no movement at all now.  He was close to losing consciousness after more painful blows to his stomach

and chest area.   He was laying with his left hand extended out slightly from the rest of him.  It was the hand he had tried

to use as a support to raise himself up off the floor, but now he concentrated on dealing with the pain in his leg and

head.   Somewhere his brain was thinking and hoping that Bridger would soon find him before it was too late.  He knew

that Lopez intended the assault to be painful but not fatal.  He wanted to keep his victim alive that bit longer just to see

him suffer even more.  Lucas prayed that he could hold on long enough for help to arrive.

Lopez now prepared to walk out of the room, confident that he hadn't killed the boy just yet.  He would wait a little

while and come back for a second turn.  He intended to make Lucas pay for all the trouble he had caused.  Lopez

now knew that he would have to make arrangements to hide out for a while, at least until things settled down about

Taylor's murder and Lucas's kidnapping.   By the time they found the kid, Lopez expected to be long gone.  

He spotted the boy's hand just as he turned to exit the door, and just to add insult to injury, he deliberately placed

the heel of his heavy boots on Lucas's outstretched hand and pressed down as hard as he could.  Lucas screamed

and screamed until his voice was hoarse.  Lopez heard a few of the small bones in the boy's wrist crack under the

pressure and then left the room.

Lucas couldn't move his hand.  The pain seemed to be everywhere in his body and he could scarcely stop from

screaming at the top of his lungs again.  He knew that his hand was probably broken, the tissue around his wrist

had already begun to turn an ugly shade of black and swell.   He just laid on the floor and tried to focus on dealing

with the pain.  He couldn't stand up, he couldn't move his hand.  He knew that he would have to somehow will

himself  to move before Lopez returned or next time he wouldn't be so fortunate.  He closed his eyes and drifted

off into an uneasy sleep on the cold hard floor of the room.

*************

Bridger swore viciously as he got back into the U.E.O. transport down at the mariner.  They had arrived at the

mariner a few minutes ago and then took the best part of ten minutes to locate Lopez's craft which was tucked

away in a corner berth.  The rescue team had scoured  the boat from stem to stern, but found no trace of the

kidnappers or Lucas.

They took off with speed again, headed for Jackson's private mansion.  From all accounts, the place was built

like a fortress, but Bridger had ensured that they brought enough trained personnel with him to counteract any

hostile forces that may await them from Lopez.

And as suspected, Lopez opened the doors with all guns blazing when Bridger and the rescue team turned up.

The gun fired exchanged for quite a few minutes, before the rescue team were able to get the upper hand and

gain access to the house.  By this time Lopez and his henchmen had cornered themselves into one of the rooms.

Bridger, Ben Krieg, Kristen Westphalen and Commander Ford all rushed into the room with weapons in front

of them.    None of them were about to take risks with Lucas's life, and were ready to use force to get him back

if necessary.

Lopez was now standing in front of the SeaQuest crew with a gun pointed at them.  He wasn't about to give up

without a fight either.  If he was going to go down, he would take as many others with him, including the kid.

"Abbott, go and kill that kid" Lopez now barked at one of his henchmen. "I'll cover you, go" he said.  But the

man was a little unsure and didn't like the imposing threat that Commander Ford seemed to display.

"You go and do it yourself Lopez" Abbott replied and dropped his weapon and held up his hands, ready to 

surrender to whatever fate awaited him.

"You gutless worm" Lopez now shouted at his weaker counterpart.  "Looks like I have to go and finish the job

I started myself" he said hoping that the people in front of him would catch his gist about hurting Lucas.

"You know, he wasn't much of a challenge at the end of the day.  He put up a bit of a struggle, but that soon

came to an abrupt end.   You should have seen him cowering on the floor with his hands over his head, begging

me to stop hitting him" Lopez said, filling the crew with all sorts of ideas about what had actually happened to

Lucas.

"You sick son of a bitch" Krieg shouted as his emotions got the better of him and he made as if to tackle Lopez

and knock the stuffing out of him.  Krieg saw red when he heard about Lucas being hurt.  He almost forgot that

Lopez was holding a gun, but was quickly reminded when the barrel was now pointed directly at him.

"Drop the weapon Lopez, it's all over" Bridger now said in a demanding voice.  "You won't get hurt if you

co-operate" he said, wanting to throttle the man as much as Ben did about hurting Lucas.

Lopez started to lower the weapon as though he was ready to surrender, but just at the last minute, raised it

again and now pointed it at Bridger with his finger on the trigger, ready to fire.

Commander Ford was ready though and fired his own gun, hitting the man in the upper shoulder and forcing Lopez

to drop his weapon and collapse to his knees whilst grabbing at his injured shoulder.

"Where is he?" Bridger now asked forcing Lopez to look at him.  Bridger was not concerned at all about the man's

soft groans of pain from the bullet wound.

"Where is who?" Lopez snapped back, determined not to budge an inch and tell them where the boy was being

held.  One of Ford's team secured handcuffs on the man and he was put on a chair to await the arrival of police.

"Commander, you take your team, Kristen and Ben you come with me, we are going to find Lucas" Bridger now

said.  

Bridger and his team spent the next ten minutes searching the various rooms on the second floor.  They had started

at the beginning of the corridor, and made sure that they didn't miss any room.  They called out Lucas's name, but

weren't sure if the boy would be able to hear them or not after Lopez's admission.

Back in his locked room, Lucas had heard noises downstairs. His aching head couldn't really make any sense out

of them all but he knew that he couldn't just lay here and wait for Lopez and his men to come back and finish him

off.

He painfully made it into a sitting position on the floor, his hand was now badly swollen and he used his other hand

to bring it to his chest.    He winced out loud at the pain that was coming from his wrist.  It was almost unbearable.

The next painful thing was his leg.  He tried to stand again, but fell back down again when he put the slightest bit

of pressure on his left leg.   He now crawled his way to the wall behind the door, determined to surprise the next

person who came through the door.  Hopefully it would be Lopez and maybe if he could knock the guy out, it may

give him a chance to get away.

He now sat on the floor with his legs extended outwards.  His hand was held protectively into his chest and wouldn't

stop throbbing.   He leaned his back against the wall and waited.   The pain was more overwhelming than ever though

and due to the aching in his head and his broken wrist, exhaustion soon replaced the short burst of adrenaline he had

been using.  His head bowed forward and he failed to feel himself dozing off whilst sitting behind the door. 

"Let's try this one Ben" Bridger now said as he put his hand on the door knob of the room Lucas was in.  The door

was locked.  It gave him hope because all of the other doors they had checked weren't locked.  Maybe it was locked

in order to keep someone on the other side.  Someone like Lucas.

"It's locked" Bridger now said.  Ben tried for himself but found the same result as Bridger.   "I told you so" Bridger

said with a little annoyance in voice.  Ben didn't take any notice of it.  He knew that the Captain was only on the edge

because of Lucas still missing.

"Let's do it together" Bridger now suggested.   He and Ben now took a step back as Kristen moved out of their way.

"Be careful" Kristen now said to both of them knowing that her words were falling on deaf ears.

"Ready" Bridger asked as he looked at Krieg.  "Ready Sir" Krieg replied.

Both of them now took a running leap at the locked door and tried barging it open by running at it and using their 

shoulders as a battering ram.  On the first attempt both of them came away rubbing at their sore shoulders with the

door still locked.  On the second attempt they heard a definite giving of the locking mechanism.  They would give it

one more determined effort.

On the other side of the door, Lucas had been startled awake by the banging on the door that Krieg and Bridger

were making.  His mind was very fuzzy though and he had trouble lifting his head to see what was making the noise.

Just as Lucas pushed himself painfully into a standing position, Ben and Bridger burst through the locked door.

Lucas was hidden for a few seconds by the door swinging back towards the wall he was leaning up against.

At first Ben and Bridger thought that they were being greeted by an empty room again.  It was only after they

heard a few grunts and groans from behind the door that they were alerted to the fact that someone was in fact

in the room.

Ben now pulled the door away from the wall and he and the other two people in the room all gasped out loud at 

the sight before them.   Lucas didn't have to do any acting on his part to look pitiful.  His leg was in agony and

he couldn't prevent the soft winces of pain that escaped his lips frequently.   His hand was still held protectively

against his chest and there were a few faint bruises beginning to appear on various other parts of his body to

display the punishment that he had been forced to endure until they had found him.

Lucas tried to give them his best smile, but that quickly died on his lips as another wave of pain laced through

his wrist and leg.  He winced out loud again and had to use all of his concentration to hold him upright against

the wall.

"Lucas" Bridger now said and went to grab a hold of the boy before he collapsed to the floor.  He could see

the pain written on the boys face and the bruises that were forming.   

"I think my hand is broken" he said in soft whisper.  All at once, the adrenaline that he had been using to hold

himself was now depleting very quickly and the lights of the room made his head hurt.  He swayed a little and

felt very dizzy all of a sudden.  His knees began to buckle.

"Ben help me with him" Bridger now said as he was forced to take a stronger hold on the collapsing teenager.

Ben and Bridger took him gently but firmly by his arms and half carried him over to the chair that he had been

sitting on earlier.   They placed him in the chair and then took a step back as Kristen now went into doctor mode

and looked over his injuries.  Lucas just sat slumped in the chair with his eyes closed and not really knowing what

was going on around him.

"I think he is right" Kristen said with a serious voice "I think his hand is broken" she added and tried to feel the

bruised and swollen tissue in his wrist.  Lucas tried to pull it away from her to avoid the pain and gasped out loud

at the pain that resulted even from such a slight movement.

"Sorry Lucas" she said honestly.  "Can you tell me were else you are hurting" she asked.  

"Lopez kicked my leg pretty hard" he said with a voice that was drifting in and out.  He was holding onto consciousness

by a thin thread.  

"Just kicked" Kristen said with anger in her voice as she now moved her probing hands towards the problem leg.  She

immediately could feel that the muscle was swollen and probably bleeding internally.   "This is more than a kick" she

said to Bridger and Ben noting that Lucas wasn't really listening to her diagnosis.    "I'd say he has got some muscle

and tendon damage.  Lucas do you think you can stand on it" Kristen said in a doubtful voice.

"Ummm" Lucas said in a very groggy voice not really hearing the question.

"I think you are going to have to carry him out of here" Kristen now announced.  "He needs to have that hand and

leg x-rayed as soon as possible.   And I need to get my medical bag so I can give him something for the pain.

"Commander Ford" Bridger now said into his PAL communicator "We found Lucas, but he is hurt and needs urgent

medical attention.  Are you and your team able to help the local authorities to wrap things up here?"

"We can handle it Captain" Ford now replied into his own PAL.  "How is Lucas?" he now asked with concern in his

voice.

"Looks like they banged him up pretty good Commander while we were getting here.  He has a suspected broken

hand and injury to his leg so that he can barely stand on it.  He's pretty much out of it right now with all the pain, so

we are going to leave now and head straight to the emergency room at the hospital.   Ben's going to need to come

with us to help with Lucas" Bridger now advised.

"That's just fine Captain.  You do what you have to and me and my team will meet you at the hospital once we are 

finished here.  Take care of Lucas for us. Ford out" the Commander said now as he relayed the message back to

the rest of the rescue team about Lucas being found but injured.

"Okay, let's go" Bridger now said putting his communicator away and getting ready to take a hold of one of Lucas's

arms.

Ben got himself ready on the other side, but Kristen motioned for them both to stop for a second.   "Lucas.   Lucas

honey" Kristen now said as she knelt in front of the teenager.   "Lucas, we are going to move you in a minute to take

you downstairs and to the hospital.   We will try and be as gentle as we can, okay?" Kristen said, noting that the boy's

eyes remained closed the whole time.  He had made a subtle effort to open his eyes at one point but gave up shortly

afterwards when his body refused to listen to his requests any further.  "Lets go.  But try and be as gentle as you can"

she said knowing that neither of them needed reminding of such things.

Lucas let out a few soft winces of pain as he felt himself lifted between Bridger and Ben.  He didn't have the strength

to stop them nor the energy to ask why he was being moved.  He heard people talking to him at various stages, but

the words all ran into one long incoherent sentence which his brain just couldn't decipher.

Bridger and Ben carried the limp boy between them back down the same corridor that they had travelled down.

They soon where in the front living room area where Commander Ford and his team were organizing things with the

local police.  Some of them whispered to each other at the sight of Lucas.   He looked like a limp rag doll with his

hair flopping down over his eyes and his slumped posture.  

Lopez could do nothing but smirk when he saw the state of the teenager.  He told himself  that he just had to get the

last word in before they hauled the kid off to the hospital.  He was seated at the moment on a couch with his hands

secured by cuffs in front of him.  There were a dozen police in the room and half as many SeaQuest personnel so

he had no chance of escape to do anything.  He would just have to be happy enough with a snide remark.

"Hey Lucas" Lopez now yelled out across the room and stood up from his seated position.  Commander Ford was

immediately beside him if he should try any funny, but Lopez saw Bridger and Ben pause a moment with their 

friend as they made it across the room to the front door.  

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Lucas heard someone calling his name, but he couldn't put a name to the voice

at the moment.   He lifted his head and succeeded in raising it enough to appear as though he were listening to Lopez's

words.

"Tell you Dad Hi for me next time you see him Lucas" Lopez said with sarcasm dripping from the words.   

Bridger and Ben would have let go of their cargo and pummelled the man to the ground given the chance but they 

told themselves that they needed to concentrate on getting Lucas out of there and to some medical attention.  Lucas's

head had slumped downwards again and Bridger gave a small sigh of relief when it appeared that even if Lucas had

heard the words, they didn't make sense to his pain wracked brain at this point in time.  The kid must have really 

been out of it to not notice somebody saying something with his fathers name in it Ben surmised and now helped

Lucas out the front door towards the waiting U.E.O. transport.

Commander Ford had been on the ball as well though and as soon as the last word left Lopez's mouth, he felt himself being

suddenly yanked up by the handcuffs.  He uttered a small yelp of surprise as the cuffs bit into his wrists but then

forgot all about his hands when he saw the menacing look from the large black man standing in front of him. 

"You sick son of a bitch" Ford yelled and then shoved the man back into his seat, knowing that there were a few

more loose ends to tie up before they hauled his backside to the city police station.

Within a few minutes, the U.E.O. transport was been given a police escort all the way to the General Hospital with

Lucas laying down in the back of the vehicle.    Three very worried people kept a constant vigil over him as they

sped to the hospital.

When they had gotten to the hospital, Kristen used all her known resources through the medical profession to get 

Lucas the best doctors available.    Lucas was wheeled on a stretcher into the emergency ward and Kristen and her

colleagues began working on the young man.    Kristen had continued to use all of her influence to allow Bridger

into to the room while they worked on the unconscious teenager.  Hospital policy normally prevented such an 

occurrence, but Kristen persuaded them by using  the argument that Bridger was there in an official role as support

for the boy.  Should the boy regain consciousness, he was likely to be unsure of his surroundings and they couldn't

risk him trying to move while they went about setting his broken wrist and various other injuries.  They wanted to

refrain from using any long lasting anaesthetics as a result of the head injury sustained from the butt of the gun from

Lopez.   He was given a local injection directly into his wrist to deaden the swollen tissue so that the bones could

be realigned for him to regain full use.  

Throughout the whole procedure, Bridger just held the sleeping boy's hand, promising him that everything was going

to be alright.  He knew that Lucas couldn't hear him at the moment, but to be honest, he didn't know whether he 

was saying the words to comfort Lucas or to cover up his own feeling of guilt and incompetence at not being able

to adequately protect the boy from harm.  Why didn't he see the warning signs that Lucas was being threatened.

Why wasn't he able to stop those men take him from the courthouse building by force.  A million questions but no

answers to any of them.

About two hours after they had wheeled Lucas into the hospital, Bridger and Kristen both emerged from the 

private examining room and saw the rest of the SeaQuest crew now seated with Ben in the corridor, waiting to 

hear the news.

Ben noted how tired they both looked but walked up to them and asked "How's he doing in there Sir?"

"Well for now Lieutenant, we have patched him back up as best as we could.  His wrist was broken and has been

set into a flexible splint.  He won't have full use of it for a few weeks, but he should still be able to use it a little if

he takes it slow.  His head has a lump on it from the gun, but it's only a slight concussion and hopefully when he 

wakes fully, he won't have any serious side effects, other than a slight headache.   His leg will heal the quickest

out of any of his injuries and hopefully within a week he should be able to get around without too much pain.  The

muscle was only bruised and thankfully no permanent ligament damage or tissue damage resulted from the kick.

The muscle was bleeding internally and that was the reason for the swelling and bruising on the skin."

"Boy, sounds like he is going to be a bit sore for a week or so" Ben said as he ran his fingers through his hands,

trying to take in all that he was being told about Lucas injuries.  

"Actually, the good news is, that none of the injuries are life threatening and will only need rest and time to let them

heal.     That means that I was hoping you would help Kristen and I take him home" Bridger said and waited to see

the reaction on the young Lieutenant's face.

Ben looked both at Bridger first and then at Kristen  to make sure he wasn't hearing things.  "You mean it" he said

just to make sure and found himself grinning at the smiling faces he got answer from the Captain and the Doctor.

"Yes he means it Ben" Kristen now said "But he's not totally out of the woods yet.  He still needs to have his friends

and family around, especially over the next couple of weeks while he thinks back over the events from the trial and

tries to deal with them in his own mind.  I am sure that his mind needs time to heal as well as his body." she added.

"What about the news on his father?" Ben now said, not knowing any other way to ask the question.  He truly feared

what that sort of news would do to Lucas's new found self-confidence of the last few months.

"To be perfectly honest Ben, we don't know ourselves yet" Bridger replied.  "I spoke to the doctors at the hospital

where Lawrence was being cared for.  They said that it was true that Lawrence had come out of his coma, but they

also stated that at the moment the man seems have regressed back to his earlier days.  He speaks of things that

happened before he and Lucas's mother even met and then about the good days after Lucas was born.  He doesn't

seem to remember any of the abuse that he inflicted or what he and Paul Sanderson did.  They don't hold out much 

hope of him ever recovering enough to leave the hospital of his own free will.  That's the only glimmer of hope we 

have at the moment.  I haven't told Lucas about this yet, and wasn't going to until I think he is strong enough to handle

it.  When the time is right and he asks, I will tell him, but at the moment, lets leave sleeping dogs lie."

*************************************************************************************

 About a week later after the hospital …………..

Lucas had been sitting in his bed, idly reading a magazine when Bridger walked in with a tray of food for lunch.

"Hi there" he greeted the teenager.  "Kristen thought you might be bored with your own company and might be 

feeling a little hungry?"

"Yeah, I guess a little" Lucas answered.   "When is she going to let me get up and move around on my own again.

It seems that for the last day and a half, I can't even go to the bathroom on my own without an armed escort."

"I know you hate being cooped up in here Lucas, but Kristen thinks it is for the best until your leg is healed a little

more.  How is your hand feeling today?" Bridger asked.   Lucas had arrived back at Bridger's house on the island

after being treated at the hospital and did nothing for the first 24 hours but sleep.   The next 48 hours were a little

different as boredom soon set in the teenager.  The only thing that interrupted his boredom was the aching in his

hand that never seemed to go away or the throbbing in his leg as he moved about the bed, trying to get more

comfortable.    The pain was treated with some aspirin every four hours, but other than that, the teenager just

sat in his room with his own thoughts.  Kristen and Bridger spent as much time with him as possible, hoping to cheer

up the sullen young man.

"It's getting better' Lucas answered, hoping that it would get him off the hook and Bridger would allow him to come

down stairs for a while.  No such luck though he told himself.   Truth was that even turning the pages of the magazine

he was supposed to be reading was an effort at times.  The bones remained in place because of the flexible splint,

but the healing tissue was bruised and inflamed.  It would still be some days before he could use it any more. 

"Yeah right" Bridger answered knowing the kid was lying about the pain he was feeling.  Lucas looked down at the

quilt and suddenly ran out of conversation.  His mind was beginning to wander again and Bridger could almost see

the question forming on the boy's face.  He could see the turmoil in the boy's mind about his father and what he had

been told.   They had told him about three days after coming home, but no matter what they said to him, somehow he

still didn't feel safe, knowing that his father had come out of his come.  They had told him that he couldn't hurt him

anymore, but those words had been spoken before in the past.  They no longer seemed to hold the meaning they 

were supposed to.

"Hey, to take your mind off your hand and leg at the moment" Bridger said almost forgetting what surprise he had

brought into Lucas with his lunch.  "Got something for you".

"What?" Lucas said now looking up at Bridger with curiosity in his expression.

"A letter came for you today" Bridger replied and held out a small blue envelope that had a post mark on it.

"For me?" Lucas asked incredulously.  He had never had someone write to him before and couldn't for the life of

him work out who it might be now.  "Who is it from?" he asked as he reached out with a shaky hand to take the

small envelope.  He stopped briefly before his finger tips reached it.  A strange feeling came over him telling him

that whatever was in the letter, couldn't be good news.  

Bridger saw the hesitation in Lucas's grasp and saw the confusion on the boy's face about who the author might be.

"Want me to open it for you?" Bridger suggested.  He wanted to know the letter from as well, but knew enough

about Lucas to respect his privacy in some matters.  He hoped that if he respected Lucas feelings, the boy would

open up and share the contents of the letter anyway.

"Um no thanks dad, I am kinda feeling tired again and my leg is hurting again.  I might lie down and try and rest for

a while if you don't mind" Lucas said trying to think of a plausible reason for him to be on his own before reading

the letter. 

"But you haven't even eaten your lunch yet" Bridger said in dismay as he watched the teenager snuggle down into

the warm blankets on his bed and turn over as if to go to sleep.  He watched the boy close his eyes tiredly and

knew that he wasn't about to get answer about the letter just yet.   He got up and fussed about with the blankets

before closing the door and leaving with the lunch tray untouched.

Lucas opened his eyes as soon as the door closed and he heard his dad's footsteps going down the staircase.

He sat up slowly and grimaced at the rekindling pain that resulted in his leg.   He now reached over to the bed side

table and picked up the blue envelope.  He turned it over a few times and tried to gauge from the outside who

it was from.  The postmark gave no clues away as it was posted in the city.  Could have been posted anywhere.

There was no return address on the reverse side to give the writer's identity away. He sighed out loud to himself

as he realised that the only way he was going to find out who it was from would be to open it up.

He placed his thumb under the back flap and now ran it along the length of the envelope, tearing the top edge as

he went.  He now pulled a small folded letter out from inside.   It was type written so he couldn't judge from the

hand-writing who it was from at first.

His mind started to read the first few sentences without really understanding what was being said.  The first words

that stood out to him were _"Dear Son".  The words seemed to echo back at him and he started to feel the panic_

rise within him.  He forced himself to read the rest of the letter.  By the time he was finished, he could feel his whole

body shaking.  It wasn't from being cold either.  It was from fear.  The words on the page seemed harmless enough

and anybody reading them wouldn't have taken anything from them.  But to Lucas, now knowing who had written

the letter, they were only fake and held a different meaning all together.  What meaning could he deduce from them

but that his father meant to hurt him again.  Somehow he knew that it wouldn't be difficult for his father to get to him

if necessary.   He had done it in the past, despite the best efforts of his family and fellow crew members.

He folded the letter back up and placed it in the back part of the drawer in the bedside table.  He told himself that

he should just tear it up and forget about it.  He wanted to scream to his Dad and Kristen and tell them about the

fear inside him that was being unlocked.  He reminded himself though that he had already caused his family enough

worry and heartache over the last few months.  They were just beginning to live a normal life again.  He didn't have

the heart to shatter their peace and tranquillity and tell them that his nightmare was back to haunt him all over again.

He laid back down on the pillow with the questions forming in his mind.  He had to figure out what to do but the only

thing his brain was remembering were the words on the letter.  How could words written like that scare him so much.

He felt the tears of fear and frustration start to dwell in his eyes as he reread the letter over in his mind:  

Dear Son,

I hope this letter reaches you.  I know it's been a long time since we have seen each other and I am sorry

about that.  I wanted to let you know that I am no longer the man that you thought me to be.   Please

believe me when I say that I have changed for the better.  I don't want to change your new life, but some

day I was hoping to see you again and try and make up for the past.  You are most welcome to come

and stay with me anytime Lucas.    I want the chance to get to know my son again.  Please think 

about it.

signed   Lawrence Wolenczak.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:  Okay folks, this one is over for now.   Be watching for the new story.  Not a sequel, but

continues on after this one.   That's why you have to know about Lawrence waking up from his coma.  The next

one is called The Forgotten Years.  Hope you enjoyed this one.   I hope I didn't cut it off too short and I am sorry

about the time taken in putting new parts up.   Please let me know what you think.

The Forgotten Years (preview) -  What would happen if Lucas lost his memory of everything that has happened 

between his father and him in the past ????  What would happen if he left Bridger and the SeaQuest crew and went

willingly back to live with his father Lawrence Wolenczak???????????


End file.
